Four Become One
by SpencerandHotchlover
Summary: Dave an immortal rescues Aaron Hotchner as a boy from being abused by his father. When Aaron asks why Dave decides to tell him the truth, knowing that, even though Aaron is just a teenager of 14 that he will accept nothing less. Will Aaron accept Dave's explanation and if he does will he be able to get past the abuse he suffered at his father's hand? Quad relationship.
1. Chapter 1

Four Become One

Part 1

"Come along," Dave ordered a young boy with black hair.

The boy obeyed without question, as he knew very well that this stranger who had introduced himself as David Rossi had saved him from being raped yet again, by his own father no less.

"Where are we going?" The boy who was about 14 asked.

"Away from here," Dave told him. "We're going to Europe by boat as it is one of the ways to avoid, showing passports. I know someone that can give you a whole new identity."

The boy considered this then nodded.

"It's good to get out of the States at least for a few years, even though I doubt my father will bother to look for his wayward son. I was a means to an end nothing more."

"Well, I'm glad you agree," Dave chuckled.

"My question is though why are you helping me?" The boy asked. "Why did I feel compelled to trust you? Normally, I'm not one to trust easily at all, especially not a complete stranger."  
"I'll explain what I can when we're safe," Dave promised.

The boy considered that quite seriously, but nodded for it did make sense.

The fact that Dave had somehow found him as he was being raped again by his father and had knocked the man unconscious had endeared the young boy to him. He had been enduring his father's abuse for years, since he was about seven or eight years old it was hard to remember, but he didn't see any other options. If he had tried to tell anyone he knew very well that his father would've dealt with it and the abuse would have been worse. His father had threatened him every time it'd happened and told him he had better keep his mouth shut or he would shut him up permanently. Aaron knew that his father was a very powerful man and he would be believed and not his son. If he was believed then his father would simply pay the people involved off and then his treatment would be even worse afterwards, which was why he had kept his mouth shut.

"Get in," Dave ordered.

The boy opened the door to the passenger side and got into the car as ordered, putting his small duffel bag that held some clothes toiletries and other treasured possession at his feet. This David Rossi hadn't given him much time to pack really, so he had been quick and efficient, just throwing a few pairs of jeans, underwear and shirts, both long and short sleeved into a duffel bag, along with his hairbrush, toothbrush, toothpaste, electric razor, since he'd had to start to shave last year, and a can of shaving cream. He had even packed a few books and the money he had been carefully squirreling away, as he had been intending to run away in a little bit more than a year when he turned sixteen. He had figured he'd be old enough then to get part-time jobs in order to support himself, but it looked like that had changed when this David Rossi had barged into his home and knocked his father unconscious with one powerful blow.

Aaron wished suddenly that this man had killed his father, instead of just knocking him unconscious. Unknown to Aaron, Dave had set the house up to basically explode by leaving the gas on and by also setting the boiler in the basement to gradually overheat so that it exploded.

There wouldn't be much left of the house by the time things were sorted out and Aaron abusive father would go up with it. He certainly deserved it, Dave thought grimly, as he drove rapidly through the streets. Anybody who would abuse their child deserved what they got. Dave had waited until the mother had left the house for some meeting of hers and only then had he intervened. Unfortunately, she wouldn't have much of a home to go to, but it had to be done in such a way that it looked like an accident at least at first glance. There wouldn't be much of the house left much less the boiler and Dave was hoping that they wouldn't be able to determine that it hadn't been an accident, but with technology today that wasn't exactly a sure thing. Still, the method was old-fashioned enough that hopefully, it would take them at least some time to discover how the house had gone up, with Aaron's father Samuel Hotchner still inside.

Dave knew that the authorities would realize eventually that the Hotchners son was missing, but hopefully, they wouldn't believe that a 14-year-old boy could make the house explode, even on accident.

"So are you going to explain to me why you rescued me?" Aaron who had been silent for sometime asked suddenly.

"I told you I would as soon as he was somewhere safe," Dave said calmly. "We'll be at the docks shortly where I have a ship waiting and after we're settled into our cabin you can ask me all the questions you want, although I won't guarantee you I'll answer all of them if I'm not sure you're ready to hear the explanation. I know you're probably hungry, but we'll have us a meal once we get to the ship."

"Alright," Aaron said, as he gazed out the window.

The boy was in shock, Dave figured as he had just seen his father knocked unconscious, even though the bastard had deserved it and also been taken away from the only home he had ever known.

Dave tried to get his protective instincts under control. Now was not the time to frighten a 14 year old boy. Besides, it wasn't Aaron he was upset at, but the father who should have loved his son and the mother who had done nothing to stop her husband from abusing her child. The mother now would live with the knowledge that her husband was dead and her son was at the very least missing.

It was very possible that at some point Aaron wouldn't have been to take the abuse anymore and would have simply killed himself, because unfortunately, it happened all the time. It happened for far less serious abuse then a father raping his son the worst kind of crime out there, even murder.

Luckily, he had arrived before that happened, because if Aaron had taken his life he would have lost one of his mates. Dave knew he had a massive task ahead of him in getting Aaron to trust him and also getting over the abuse he had suffered probably for years.

He would never force himself on his mate. He wanted Aaron to come to him willingly. Besides, the boy was only 14 and Dave would have to wait at least 4 years, so hopefully, in that time, Aaron could get over his abuse enough to willingly go into a relationship, but he would have to wait and see. If only he had known about the raping of Aaron's young prepubescent body he would've interfered much sooner probably by the time he was 6 or 7.

He had known ever since Aaron was 3 that he was one of his mates and had come to check out the situation. He had watched the young boy for awhile, but then, had left again know when he was going to have to wait a lot of years for him to grow up. He had been intending to rent a house for the next few years make sure Aaron got familiar with his presence.

He has been intending to tell Aaron about the mate thing, when he finished college as he would've been 22 or possibly 23 or 24 depending on what career he had decided to go into. Dave had known that the attraction on both sides would have been there and had been hoping that if Aaron was familiar enough with his presence that, that he wouldn't have to much trouble getting involved with another man who looked at least 10 years his senior. He had been well aware that he might possibly face rejection, but Dave had been hoping the attraction would be so strong by that point in time that it wouldn't happen.

Now though, plans would have to be changed. Dave had known that human race was extremely messed up, but it had never occurred to him that a father could rape his own son and it should have, as he wasn't innocent and know of the evil in the world.

"Here we are," Dave said.

"Nice ship," Aaron said looking out the window with an excited glint in his eyes,

"The captain should be waiting for us and the other passengers won't arrive for a few hours so we have time to get settled in," Dave said.

Aaron picked up his duffel bag that was sitting in his feet and got out of the car.

"Where are we going precisely all you said was Europe earlier," Aaron asked

"Sweden if you must know," Dave said. "It's neutral and has no extradition treaty with the US. I intend for us to keep a low profile, father and son perhaps, but still, you never know what can happen. In a few years the disappearance of a 14-year-old boy will be largely forgotten. By the time you're 18 nobody will even remember that a boy disappeared or if they do they will think it's a shame that such a thing happened."

Aaron said nothing, but Dave knew that he was thinking

"Good evening, Captain Jaouhari," Dave greeted a dark swarthy skinned man who looked around 40 or so

"Good evening, Mr. Rossi," the captain greeted Dave politely, but with genuine warmth. "Was your mission successful?"

"It was indeed," Dave said. "This is Aaron who will be taking the trip back to Sweden with us."

"It's nice to meet you Aaron," the captain said not commenting on not getting a last name, which was curious in Aaron's opinion, but he sensed now was not the time to ask questions.

"If you could just show Aaron and I to our cabin we'll get settled in and have us a meal," Dave suggested politely, but the captain got the message.

"Right this way," Captain Jaouhari said, as he escorted them to the first class passengers deck and the best cabin available, as he knew very well that David Rossi would demand only the best and since he could easily pay for it he usually got what he wanted.

"Thank you, captain," Dave said shaking the captain's hand. "What time is the kitchen open?"

"At six," the captain said, going through the routine, even though he knew very well that Mr. Rossi knew exactly when the kitchen was open as well as every shop that was onboard.

"Well, it's not long until then he gives us time to take shower and relax a little," Dave said looking at his old fashion pocket watch.

"I hope you and Aaron do me the pleasure of dining with me at the Captain's Table tomorrow night, once you've had a chance to get settled in," the captain said.

"Of course," Dave agreed. "We'll be there."

"Well then, for now farewell," the captain said taking his leave.

Aaron had watched this silently not saying a word and Dave knew that the young man was going to require quite a bit of explanation and soon. Dave had a feeling that he was going to have to be completely truthful to this young man and tell him nearly everything, maybe even all of it, because really he wasn't that far from being considered grown up. He would just have to see how things went.

"If you want to take a shower it's through that door right over there," Dave told Aaron calmly. "We'll buy you some decent clothes once the shops open and more once we reach our destination, since I know I didn't give you time to pack very much."

Aaron didn't protest and Dave considered that either the young man had realized it was useless or he was still in shock over what occurred, maybe a little of both. After all, he had been basically kidnapped even though he had come along willingly or at least that's the way that the authorities if they ever caught up with him would look at it. He had no intention of ever being caught by the authorities and staying under the radar, which was why he had numerous people in his corner who knew at least part of the story and a few who knew all of it.

The young man gathered his toothbrush, paste, as well as a pair of jeans, underwear and a shirt from his duffel bag and headed into the bathroom

Dave watched him go his expression thoughtful once the young man had disappeared into the large bathroom.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

"Alright, you promised to explain once we had some privacy," Aaron said, after he had swallowed a bite of his breakfast which had delivered a few minutes ago. "Would you care to tell me why you rescued me from my father had basically kidnapped me? Why I feel as if I can trust you or at least that's what my gut is telling me."

"Well, you know we live in a world where the supernatural is part of everyday life," Dave began. "Where some people have visions of the future and others can see auras or others can see the past by touching an object."

"I'm assuming this is leading somewhere," Aaron said and Dave nodded solemnly.

"Just listen," Dave suggested his voice calm. "You can ask me questions afterwards, but if you keep interrupting I'm never going to finish explaining."

Aaron nodded, so Dave continued, "What I was trying to explain is that some things exist that those who are normal aren't aware of. However, there are some things that could be considered supernatural that have been kept carefully quiet. One of those things is the existence of immortals. Not immortal, as in can't ever die, but immortal in the limited sense that we heal fast from any injury and don't age from the time we reach thirty. They're are still a number of ways that we can die however, so it as I said, a kind of limited immortality. However, we can take a bullet in the heart for example and so long as it is removed we'll heal up in a few minutes and wake up. Immortals keep this a very carefully guarded secret, because thousands, likely millions of people would want what we have and they wouldn't care about the restrictions of being Immortal or how many people died as they fought for what they wanted."

"Can you prove what you're telling me?" Aaron asked in a skeptical tone.

"Of course I can," Dave told him calmly, extracting a Swiss Army knife from his pocket. "I had already figured out you would demand proof, just as most people would. Test the blade on that and see how sharp it is just to prove yourself that I'm not trying fool you."

Aaron took the knife and popped out the blade attachment and studied it intently and thought it looked sharp. Finally, he tested the edge with his thumb and the knife sliced a shallow gash.

Aaron handed the knife back to Dave without comment, even as he stuck his thumb in his mouth to help stop the blood.

Dave had watched this with quiet amusement as the young man had taken a knife without a word and had then studied the knife attachment, before slicing his finger, the skin parting quite easily under the sharp blade.

"We'll need to doctor that," Dave said. "But first let me demonstrate, to prove to you that I'm not just feeding you a line."

Without another word, Dave quietly sliced his palm just as Aaron had his finger and the young man watched avidly as Dave used the handkerchief he'd had in his pocket too staunch the flow of blood, so that it wouldn't get all over the floor. Aaron continued to watch, as the cut rapidly healed itself until just a minute later there was nothing left except for the blood all over Dave's hand that was drying at a rapid pace and a very bloody handkerchief.

Aaron blinked rapidly for he had been sure that this David Rossi was just telling him a fib, but he knew what he had seen. He knew for a fact, that that blade that was part of Dave's Swiss Army knife was very sharp, because while his thumb had quit bleeding, it had bled quite heavily for a few minutes and the blade had sliced through his flash like a hot knife through butter.

"Alright, you're immortal, but that still doesn't explain what you wanted with me," Aaron said after a few minutes of rather tense silence. "I appreciate that you rescued me from my father, who believed that he was superior to his son who he saw many faults in. To him, I never measured up to what he wanted me to be in his own mind. I think he believed he could break me to his will by raping me again and again."

"Well, it has been known to work," Dave said. "I suppose you were just too strong willed for it to work on you. Still, I know it has had a lot of affect on you, especially if that wasn't the first time as rape is an act of dominance over another. It's often used as a torture technique, though mostly on females I'll admit. However, the effects and the damage mentally and emotionally are the same. I'll be glad to help you through it if you want to talk, but I know that it's going to take awhile for you to trust me."

"Are you going to explain why you rescued me?" Aaron asked. "There are plenty of children out there that are in similar, even worse situations than I was."

Dave studied Aaron for a moment but knew that if he wasn't completely truthful that he would never gain this young man's trust and that was absolutely unacceptable to him.

"Well, immortality is not all it's cracked up to be," Dave explained, as calmly as possible, even though his heart was beating rapidly within his chest. "Whoever created immortals also created soulmates for them and some of us have more than one. However, nothing is ever easy as that soulmate is usually not born for a few hundred years at least."

Aaron absorbed that for a moment and that they looked directly into Dave's eyes. "So if I get what you're saying, you rescued me because we are soulmates."

"Yes," Dave said. "That wasn't my original plan if you must know, but when I saw through the window that you were being abused by your father well..." Dave paused trying to get his emotions under control. "I just had to get you out of there, as who knows what would've happened if I had just left things the way they were with you being abused until you were finally old enough to go to college."

"So what was your original plan?" Aaron asked not sure if he believed what he was being told, but on the other hand, Dave had every reason to be honest with him and for some reason he trusted the man in front of him, even though they had only known each other for such a short amount of time.

"Well, originally I was going to rent a house somewhere near where you lived, maybe even buy one, I hadn't decided," Dave explained. "I was going to make sure you were familiar with me, so I wouldn't be a complete stranger to you when you went off to college, perhaps, I would have struck up a friendship. I was hoping that by time you graduated that you would remember the feeling that you would've had every time you were near me, which is part of the soulmate bond. That undeniable attraction that if given a chance can very easily turn into real love on your end. Perhaps, we would have kept in contact over email and phone calls as I was hoping we would be close enough by then you'd want to do that."

"So if I'm understanding you right you were going to tell me after I graduated college," said Aaron.

"Well, it's possible you would have realized your feelings for me and approached me instead, but yes, I would have told you if you hadn't," Dave confirmed. "I thought by the time you were 22 or 23 or whenever you graduated, depending on what your major was, that you would be mature enough to listen to me at least and take what I said into consideration. Of course, if you had rejected what I said out of hand and told me you weren't interested or to get lost, well, I would have done so. Yes, we are mates, and yes, being rejected by you would have devastated me. However, I can't force myself on you as it has to be completely consensual."

"So if I had fallen in love and decided to get married for example..." Aaron suggested then paused.

"Then I wouldn't have stopped you," Dave told him. "Your happiness would've been all that matters."

Dave didn't bother to go into the fact that he would've been completely devastated and miserable, as he suspected Aaron had guessed that already, as he was an intelligent young man.

"Of course, if that had occurred I would have left the area immediately as there is no way I could've stood being around you every day seeing you happy with your bride with possibly a child on the way," Dave added.

"I probably wouldn't have stayed in the area," Aaron told Dave who nodded.

"I can't blame you after what I saw occur with your father, which I suspect had been going on for a long time. If I had known sooner I guarantee you I would have done the same that I did tonight and raised you myself," Dave said

"Which would've been hard for you," Aaron suggested shrewdly.

"Probably," Dave shrugged, "but on the other hand, you would've been just a little boy and there is no way I'm going to think of a child in that manner. It's possible though that you never would have thought of me as anything other than a father figure, despite your attraction, but I would have done so, if only I had known about your situation earlier."

"I'm not sure I'll ever be on the connect with anyone in that way," Aaron said sounding as solemn as a 14 year old boy could sound and Dave nodded.

"I can certainly understand that," Dave agreed. "If you decide you can't I hope we can at least be friends."

"I think I can manage that at least," the 14 year old boy said.

"Rape is the most brutal crime out there, even worse than murder, because it destroys sense of self and some people never recover from being so brutalized, especially if it's done repeatedly," Dave told Aaron.

"It didn't happen often at first," Aaron said. "It started when I was seven or eight, as I can't quite remember the first time it happened and at first it was only every few weeks, maybe once or twice a month. The first time was the worst, because I certainly wasn't expecting it. I mean I was only a kid for God sakes."

"Nobody expects to be so brutalized, especially before you even have a chance to grow up," Dave told him. "Rape victims often believe that they brought it on themselves, but that's how they've been programmed to think by their brutalizer and also a lot of times by other people reactions if they're in the know. A lot of the people, mostly women who have been raped, don't get counseling, suffer from nightmares and a lot of times they don't trust anybody or sometimes it's just men they don't trust. Of course, some women get over it, marry, have children and have very happy lives, but that's usually only if they get counseling to deal with the abuse. Don't ever believe any differently, because rape is abuse."

"You're trying to say that some people persevere even without counseling," Aaron said.

"Mostly if they get the proper support," Dave confirmed. "Unfortunately, a lot of times that doesn't happen as the family blames the victim for what happened instead of the aggressor or if they don't blame them they don't know how to act, how to be supportive."

"You seem to know a lot about it," Aaron said.

"I've seen a lot of things in my centuries," Dave answered simply. "I've also have learned a lot in that amount of time, some things I'd rather not know, even if occasionally it does come in useful. Unfortunately, the world is not made up of black-and-white, but various shades of gray."

"I suppose so," Aaron said uncertainly.

"We can talk more later if you like, but for now I think you should sleep," Dave suggested gently. "I got us a two room cabin and I'll take the master and you can have the other."

"I still have questions," Aaron protested.

"You can ask them once you're not so tired as you've been to the emotional wringer and you've also had a lot of information to absorb. You need to give yourself time for the information that you've learned to settle, before you pile on anymore," Dave suggested. "You're body might not feel it now, because you're probably still running on adrenaline, but soon you'll be yawning and wanting to sleep. You're only 14 and you've been through a lot tonight, for years really. I know you'll never truly forget and maybe not get over what happened, but your memories will fade after awhile."

"Alright, but I still expect answers to my questions," Aaron said and Dave nodded

"You'll get them," Dave promised.

Dave was right Aaron realized, as he yawned and so headed to bed without too much protest.

Dave watched him go silently and once Aaron had disappeared into his room shutting the door his body slumped forward.

That hadn't been as difficult as he assumed, but he also knew that Aaron was likely still in shock. No boy should react so calmly the way Aaron had done, but then he also knew that everybody was different in how they reacted to things. He had no doubt that Aaron had always been a serious little boy, even before his father had started raping his prepubescent body, but his father's abuse would have forced Aaron to grow up even faster. Maybe it wasn't so surprising that Aaron was taking his story so calmly or maybe he could expect fireworks somewhere down the road.

Aaron didn't seem like the type to pitch a tantrum to get something he wanted, but he would just have to see.

Dave sighed and fixed himself a scotch from the bar drinking it slowly as he thought about what had happened in the last few hours, before he to decided it was time for him to go to bed

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

"Good morning," Dave greeted Aaron when he walked into the living area of the suite.

"Morning," Aaron greeted running one hand through his already mussed black hair.

"We can have breakfast in here if you like or we can go to the main dining room or one of the restaurants onboard," Dave suggested.

"I haven't had a chance to see most of the ship," Aaron said and Dave nodded.

"Yes, what boy your age likes to be cooped up," Dave said, smiling slightly. "We'll eat in the dining room for now, but we can make a reservation for one of the two restaurants onboard. After breakfast we can explore the ship or you can do that on your own, as you are old enough not to need a babysitter."

"Aren't you afraid I'm going to run away?" Aaron asked with half a smile. "I could tell someone you kidnapped me you know."

"You could," Dave shrugged. "You could've cause me a great deal of trouble if you so desire to, but I don't believe you'll do that."

"Why not?" Aaron asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Because then your mother would be contacted and you would be taken back to her," Dave told him calmly. "I get the feeling that your mother was not really a parent to you, because she was bound to know what was happening with your father and yet she did nothing. I doubt very much that you want to go back."

"You only mention my mother what about father?" Aaron asked.

"Your father is very likely dead," Dave told the young man calmly.

"What did you do?" Aaron demanded.

"I kind of set the boiler to explode," Dave admitted. "It could very well look like an accident as that kind of thing happens sometimes, even in this century. If your father wakes up and gets out of the house he might survive but that's doubtful, as I gave him a pretty good conk on the head."

Aaron looked absolutely stunned for a moment and then a joyous expressions spread across he's normally serious face.

"He's gone?" Aaron asked trying not to be hopeful.

"It's likely," Dave said as he watched Aaron closely. "We can confirm once we get it settled somewhere, as I have many contacts."

"Thank you," Aaron said, as he actually hugged Dave, which was the first time the two of them had physically touched.

"I figured you'd be mad at me, maybe even hate me," Dave said wonder. "He was your father after all."

"I might share his DNA, but he's not my father," Aaron told Dave seriously. "As much as it shames me I've often wished over last few years that he would either leave or die. I'm actually glad he's dead, because this means he can't do what he did to me to anybody else."

"It shouldn't shame you, because at least you're feelings are honest," Dave said. "I guarantee you anybody that went through what you did, unless they were the nicest person in the world, would wish the same, although I suppose some may wish that their abuser ended up in prison rather then dead. Your feelings are perfectly natural, because no parent is supposed to do what your father did to you and your mother had to have known what was happening and yet she did nothing, so she's partially responsible to. Quite a lot those that are abused kill their abuser and it wouldn't have mattered necessarily that he was your father. The human species is really fucked up, but so are immortals or magicals. You must keep telling yourself that you did nothing wrong, until you believe it, because you didn't and I'm sure if you ever go see a psychologist they would tell you to same. There's so many things you could have done. You could've called the cops for example."

"No, I couldn't have," Aaron shook his head in denial. "My father was a powerful man and he just would've paid anybody off that I told, even if they believed me and then my treatment would've been worse. Even if he could not pay off certain people to get the charges dismissed he still had judges and other officials in his pocket, so he wouldn't have done any serious time. He would've come back after me for going to the cops in the first place and the treatment would've been ten times worse, as he would have taken the reputation and the money I cost him out of my hide."

Dave winced at that and thought it was probably true.

"I was planning on running away once I turned 16, which would've being a little bit more than a year away. I thought I would look old enough to make my own way in the world by then. I'd planned on getting a lot of short term jobs and trying for scholarships, so I could go to college."

"Well, if you want to go to college when you turn 18 then I can afford to send you," Dave said.

"And what do you expect in return?" Aaron asked suspiciously.

"Nothing really," Dave said. "You're not obligated to accept and this isn't a way for me to get into your pants if that's what you're worried about, because as I said any relationship once you hit 18 or afterwards has to be consensual. I have more money than I'll ever spend, so I certainly have enough to send you to a one of the best colleges anywhere in the world if that's what you want. No payback required."

"I'll think about it," Aaron said and Dave nodded.

"Well, there's no need to worry about it right now, although you will have to get your GED at some point if you want to get into college, but I can make arrangements for you to take the required courses."

"How are you going to get my records from my school in Virginia?" Aaron asked.

"Let's just say I know some useful people that can hack into just about any system," Dave said not going into detail. "Everything is stored on computer nowadays, so it would be easy to have everything printed out. The school will never know anyone was in their computer system I guarantee it. It's probably not safe for you to go to school under your own name, so again a hacker will come in useful change your last name at least."

"Sounds complicated," Aaron admitted.

"It is, and I'm no expert on computers, but still, it can be done," Dave shrugged not mentioning that the hacker would require a large fee, as Aaron had too much to accept already and there was no point of burdening him when it wasn't necessary.

Of course, if they ever did complete the bond between them well things would be very different.

"Let's go get some breakfast and afterwards if you have more questions, I'll answer them although we need to do that here in the cabin and not out in public," Dave suggested.

"I realize that," Aaron said and Dave nodded. "Alright, I'm starving anyway let's go get some breakfast."

Dave simply smiled and the two of them headed out of their first class cabin towards the dining room

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

Dave and Aaron enjoyed a large breakfast, chatting cordially

"Well, now that we are fed and watered let's go explore some," Dave suggested. "There should be activities for both of us to do onboard as cruises are supposed to be fun for all ages."

Aaron agreed with eagerness in his eyes reminding Dave that while Aaron appeared to be a very mature boy for only be 14, but he was still only a child, a child whose life had been hell at home until he had been rescued less than 24 hours ago.

"Well, why don't we get a little clothes shopping out-of-the-way, so we don't have to worry about it," Dave's smiled. "Just a few things, because it won't take as long to get to Sweden."

"Well, okay," Aaron agreed. "I brought some money with me..."

"Don't worry about it," Dave said shaking his head. "Think of me like a parent or guardian at least if that helps. I intend to pay for everything you might need just like they offered to pay for your college education."

"You don't have to do that," Aaron protested.

"I doubt the money you have would last very long to buy things like clothes, especially on shipboard, where things tend be more expensive. Save your money," Dave suggested. "I've already told you I have more money than I'll ever spend, as I have lots of investments and from now on until you decide to part ways with me once you reach 18 and therefore, are of legal age, you're my responsibility."

Aaron had to swallow his pride, but he nodded because he knew that Dave was very right. He just had to accept that he didn't have the money to buy expensive things like clothes, even though he had saved well over $1000 dollars over a few years.

"Good," Dave said calmly. "We won't spend much time shopping just get you a few basic things, since I know you didn't pack more then a few pairs of jeans, shirts, socks and underwear."

"You didn't give me much time," Aaron said and Dave nodded in agreement.

"No, I didn't, but I wanted to be out of there before your mother got home and also before the house exploded," Dave said quietly. "Besides, I knew I could buy you anything you needed that you didn't think to bring. Once we settle somewhere we'll have to do more clothes shopping and get you a more extensive wardrobe, but right now we only need a few necessaries, something other than basic supplies like jeans and T-shirts."

The two of them headed for the nearest shop and Aaron spent over an hour trying on slacks and collared shirts, as well as a few more formal things.

"Well, I think that's enough," Dave said finally. "Let's go do something fun."

Aaron said nothing, but Dave knew that he had been very patient with trying on clothes because he knew he needed them, and was likely glad to be done.

The man and boy left the shop and headed back to the cabin to drop off their purchases, before reading what was available onboard ship from a long list, deciding on what they wanted to do. There was a heated pool that was for first-class passages only, as well as a sauna and the whirlpool if you just wanted to relax. There was a saloon onboard for the ladies, that sometimes men used as well and there was also shuffleboard for the older people and plenty of activities for every possible age from toddlers to the centennials

"Swimming sounds like fun," Aaron said. "You did make sure to get me a bathing suit."

"There is also a multiplex of vid screens with several different options for the passengers viewing pleasure."

"Yeah, I might want to do that sometime before we reach our destination," Aaron said.

"There is also a small library if we want to check out books to read," Dave said.

"That's an option too," Aaron said. "I sometimes like to read for pleasure when I have free time. There is also a gym and I might want to check that out."

Dave nodded for Aaron looked to be in excellent shape, which meant he worked out heavily or at least ran several miles every day. Dave suspected he had probably been doing that so that he would one day be strong enough to give his father what was coming to him, even if that situation had been taken care of.  
The two of them discussed calmly what they wanted to do for that day, then immediately headed out to spend the rest of the day having fun.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

"So the captain sure did seem to accept easily that you were bringing me along," Aaron asked Dave several days later.

"I wondered if you'd get around to asking me that, as I noticed how observant you are," Dave said, as the two stood leaning against the rail looking out at the water. "Captain Jaouhari is from Egypt and a lot of people over there believe in the supernatural a lot easier then people in someplace like the States, for they see it every day. Africa is an old country, much older than America is really and Egypt especially has a very mystical reputation. Captain Jaouhari doesn't know precisely what I am, just that I'm not quite human. We've known each other for years though, so he knew I must have a reason for bringing you with me. He might even have seen news reports on you, but he trusts me enough to know that I have a good reason for bringing you onto his ship and that I would never deliberately bring trouble to his door. I pay him quite well for his discretion."

"How does he know you're not quite human?" Aaron asked

"I knew him as a child as I knew his father and his grandfather," Dave explained. "I always introduce myself as the second or the third or the fourth of the name, but I look to much like my supposed ancestors to be anything, but the same person. An exact duplicate. A person might come out looking a great deal like their father or their grandfather, but it's not exact, even if those differences are subtle, different chin, different cheekbones, different nose that type of thing. Well, not unless they've been cloned, especially not for three or four generations."

"Captain Jaouhari, isn't stupid then," Aaron said.

"No, he's definitely not," Dave agreed. "He's very intelligent actually, and he might even have guessed that I'm Immortal, but if he has he won't say anything. I might even tell him the truth one day, but probably not, unless the circumstances are rather unusual, as it's not the kind of secret you can share casually."

"No, it's not," Aaron agreed, his brown eyes thoughtful. "Most people would either think you're lying or want to try to replicate your immortality for themselves not thinking about the many pitfalls of living basically forever."

"Capturing an immortal wouldn't be easy, though I won't say it's impossible. We are basically human after all, we look and act human, because that's what we once were. Really, the only difference between an immortal and a human is the fact that we heal so rapidly and we don't age past 30. Some people notice eyes and how ancient they seem on an immortal who is centuries old, as they say eyes are windows to the soul, but most people don't believe what they see or if they do they dismiss what someone's eyes tell them," Dave said.

"It's a good thing actually that most people don't believe their own senses as that means there's less chance of discovery," Aaron said.

"That's a very good observation, Aaron," Dave complimented the young man sincerely.

"Thank you," Aaron said, smiling slightly.

The man and boy stood there quietly just looking out over the water not saying another word for a long time.

"So what are our plans once we get to Sweden," Aaron asked, still talking quietly as voices tended to carry on the water.

"Well, I have a house there," Dave said. "And it's far enough outside one of the major cities that so long as we keep a low profile no one should ever find us until you're of age to be on your own or not even then. We'll get you some new identification papers from some people I know. I could enroll you at the local school or I could homeschool you as many people do that. I'll let you make the decision on that since you are 14 after all, and not all that far away from being considered an adult. You're very mature and serious for your age so I know that if you decide to homeschool that you'll do so and not just goof off."

"I think that I prefer to study on my own," Aaron said after some thought. "For one thing it would be harder to connect with anyone, whether student or teacher at this late stage and I also think it would be considerably safer if I studied on my own and get my GED later, through the mail perhaps."

"Alright," Dave agreed calmly. "I'll help you do that if that's what you want, but you're a smart boy and probably know what's required to get your GED better than I do. If you need any help in certain areas that I can't help you with I can always hire tutors if necessary."

"I don't think that's going to be necessary at least for the present," Aaron said. "I was determined to get my GED by the time I ran away anyway and I wouldn't have had tutors, so yes, I know what's required and what subjects I need to concentrate on."

"Well, you're ahead of the game already," Dave smiled. "I have no doubt you would have succeeded in getting your GED and going to college if you had run away, as you're very mature for your age."

Aaron said nothing and just looked out over the railing of the ship seeming lost in thought and Dave left him to it, knowing that that young man had been through a lot in the last couple of days, so he had every right to brood if that's what he wanted.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2

Four years later

"Happy birthday," Dave told Aaron, as soon as he came into the kitchen the morning of April 18th.

"Thanks," Aaron smiled, yawning.

"We'll go out to eat tonight in order to celebrate," Dave said and Aaron nodded gratefully.

It had certainly been a rather interesting four years, Aaron thought, as he ate the birthday breakfast that Dave had cooked especially for him, which contained all his favorites.

Aaron had grown several inches since he had left home and was now just over 6 feet. He also worked out so he had broad shoulders and a bulkier frame, as he'd put on considerable muscle.

He had noticed over the last year and a half or so Dave giving him appreciative looks, but he had said nothing and treated him just like he normally would. Aaron knew it must've been difficult for Dave to think of him as the young boy he had rescued instead of in a sexual or romantic way the older he got, but he had done just as he had promised and the two of them had become very close over the last few years.

"So you're 18 now, what are your plans?" Dave asked trying not show how worried he was as to the answer.

"I'd like to stay with you, if you don't mind," Aaron said. "At least for now."

"I don't mind at all," Dave said trying not to show how relieved he was that Aaron wasn't going to leave. "What about college though?" Dave asked. "You've worked so hard to get your GED."

"I figured I could take online courses," Aaron said.

"Don't you want to hang out with people your own age?" Dave asked. "You know get the full college experience."

"What would going to college really do for me? Most children who go to college haven't seen as many places or had as many experiences as I have in the last four years thanks to you. I'm ready to experience real-life," Aaron said shaking his head. "I doubt I could connect with any of them as most of them have had happy childhoods or at least decent ones, and I didn't, until you rescued me just over four years ago. Most of them won't have my experiences in traveling to exotic places and learning their history. Oh, those kids might've been camping or to some holiday locale, to the beach for example, but I doubt most of them are serious minded enough to take in the history or the true beauty of some place like Rome. They would think it's fun to be somewhere so exotic, but that would likely be the extent of it. A lot of them would just be interested in partying or drinking or the college girls."

"That's a point," Dave acknowledged. "Actually, that's several good points."

"If it had been the only way to get away from home I would've jumped at the chance," said Aaron.

"Yes, I wouldn't have been able to blame you if you had," Dave agreed. "If you want to take your courses online then that's okay with me. A lot of people do it that way, though they're usually older, someone who wants to get a second or third degree."

"Or someone who doesn't have time to take the full college experience because of outside responsibilities," Aaron said. "They might be helping take care of their brother or sister who are much younger for example. They might have a sick family member, a mother or a father and some are just more confident doing it online and not dealing with the college kids."

"That's another good point," Dave admitted.

"If I'd had a normal childhood than I would've jumped at the chance of going to college, as I would have wanted to get away from home to be myself for the first time, " Aaron said and Dave nodded in understanding, "but the fact is I didn't have a normal childhood at least not after I was 7 or 8."

"Which happens far too often," Dave said looking sad.

"Yes, it does," Aaron agreed. "Due to what happened to me as a kid and continued to happen until you rescued me I'm not entirely sure I'll ever be able to connect with another human being in that way."

"I know," Dave said. "I wouldn't be able to blame you if you could not, as many can't after that type of abuse."

"Still, I'd like to give it a try anyway," Aaron said looking Dave.

Dave looked at Aaron startled and saw the lust in his eyes that made his heart start to beat triple time. He felt like he wanted to fly away.

"You don't have to do this," Dave told Aaron, as evenly as possible trying to keep the lust out of his expression and his eyes for he had loved Aaron Hotchner for so long. "Don't get me wrong I would like nothing more, as you're already well aware, but the first time we make love the bond will begin to form between us. The more of my semen you absorb the more you'll be turned immortal."

"No, I don't have to do this," Aaron agreed after having listened seriously to Dave's words, "but the truth of the matter is that I fell in love with you or at least I think it's love. I would like to give a relationship between us a chance at least. It might not work out, but I'm not about to be a coward and never try to get over what happened to me, as that would give my father power over me, something I refuse to do. I know he's dad any never know that he still had how over me, but I simply refuse to let him hoover over me like some kind of spector. Besides, the psychologist you hired thinks it would be a good idea for me to at least try to have sex with someone, to form an attachment other than that of friendship or companionship. I know that many who have been through what I have can't even form bonds of friendship and close themselves off, even from their family or close friends, but if possible I'm not going to be one of those that can't enjoy having sex with someone I already love."

"The psychologist didn't mean with me," Dave suggested, if only because his conscious nagged him to. "She meant with someone close to your own age, as I'm sure she assumed you'd go to college once you reach 18 and break your cherry there."

"Probably," Aaron shrugged. "Dr. Collinsworth didn't specify. It shouldn't matter anyway, because she doesn't really know the real situation. Oh, she knew that you had gotten me away from an abusive situation and basically kidnapped me, for my own good, but she thought you were my real uncle that was just looking after the welfare of his nephew and gotten him away from his abusive father. Oh, she might not have known all the details since we changed my last name and told her my mother was dead, but stillm we were basically truthful, as truthful as we could be under the circumstances. We told her that there was no way you could've gotten me away from my father legally, because he was a powerful lawyer, which is even the truth. Besides, technically, I'm not a virgin due to my father."

"All good points," Dave said. "But let me be clear about your last statement. To me you are a virgin, because before you were forced and you were only child. It wasn't consensual and therefore, to me you're still pure, even though I know most people wouldn't see it like that."

"To be entirely honest, I'm not sure I could connect with anyone except you, as I feel a powerful pull in your direction, which I know is just my soul calling to yours," Aaron admitted. "Also thank you for seeing me that way it makes me feel much better about myself."

"You're very welcome and yes, that pull is your soul recognizing mine," Dave said.

"I'm not even sure I'll be able to connect with those other soulmates you told me about, but maybe I will if the pull is anything like it is with you," Aaron added.

"It would be," Dave said. "You would feel just as much of a pull with him or her as you do with me and so would I."

"Well then, maybe," Aaron shrugged.

"Well, if you really want to try, I'm more than willing," Dave said beginning to get excited. "We'll have to keep our relationship a secret until you get a little older if this works out, as I don't want to be seen as robbing the cradle, because I look 30, even if technically, I'm centuries older than my supposed age and you're only 18."

"My relationship with anyone is private," Aaron said. "You know I'm not one to display that kind of thing in public."

"We can go out on dates and things once you age a few years," Dave said. "Go out to eat, be seen kissing or holding hands, that kind of thing."

"Well, let's see if I respond to you sexually, before we even think about that," Aaron said practically.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Dave agreed. "Let's set some ground rules first though. First, I want you to promise me that you'll tell me to stop if you get uncomfortable. I will not force myself on you, no matter how hard it is on me personally."

"I can do that," Aaron promised, understanding Dave's concern unlike most 18 year old boys, but then he had always been a serious lad who was more intelligent than your average teenager. He liked to read, study and learn, though there was some things that you could only learn in real life

"Second, you will tell me if you have any nightmares and you will be honest with me about your feelings afterwards. I want to know everything positive or negative. You have to promise me that you will not hide anything, your feelings, your thoughts, so I know how to proceed afterwards, as we might need to slow down," Dave said. "I can't read your mind after all, although I can read your body language, which is almost as good, but still..."

"I can do that to," Aaron agreed.

"Alright then," Dave decided. "If you're ready I'll be ecstatic to fulfill your demand, as I've wanted nothing more for over four years and you're a legal adult now."

"That I am," Aaron grinned, his dark eyes sparkling excitedly.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

"That was wonderful," Aaron told Dave honestly. "I wasn't sure if I could go through with it, but I'm so glad I was wrong."

He and Dave had just had the most wonderful, experience together, a first for him, Aaron knew, but something he hoped to repeat a lot.

"Well good," Dave said relieved. "I'm so glad to hear you say that. The bond between us has started to form now and it won't be long before you're immortal yourself."

"Does that mean I'll be stuck at 18 or 19?" Aaron asked a little worriedly.

"No, of course not," Dave promised him. "You'll continue to age until you reach 30, even once you're immortal then you'll stop, just like I did."

"Okay, good," Aaron said relieved.

"I would never have agreed to make love with you if you were going to stop aging once you were immortal," Dave told him. "As much as it would've pained me I would have waited at least until you were 25 or 26, so that we wouldn't be so far apart in age and you would look more mature."

"It must've been hard waiting until I was of legal age," Aaron said.

"At first it wasn't too hard as you were still just a kid really, but in the last year, year and a half or so yes, it got more difficult," Dave said.

"Well, us making love was the best birthday present I could have gotten," Aaron told him making Dave smile at him tenderly.

"I'm glad," Dave said kissing Aaron's cheek, "though I did actually buy you a present as reaching 18 is an important rite of passage."

"I suppose," Aaron finally agreed.

"It is in certain parts of the world anyway, because you go from being a teenager to a young adult," Dave said. "I know those in America don't think like that for the most part, still, it's a very important rite of passage as I said. It means that you take on adult responsibilities no matter what they may be, you're able to go to college, pay your own bills, buy property, get married without parental consent."

"I never thought of it like that," Aaron said slowly.

"Most people don't," Dave admitted. "Also I want you know that I also enjoyed myself immensely and I'll be happy to make love to you as often as you allow. However, if you don't want to make this a permanent thing just make sure you tell me and we won't make love again as you'll turn immortal once you have absorbed enough of my seed."

"You made my first time the best experience of my life," Aaron told Dave seriously, but sincerely kissing Dave gently on the lips. "I know technically, it wasn't my first time, but it certainly was when it was consensual."

"Rape isn't sex, it's all about domination of another, which isn't the same thing at all," Dave said.

"So you said multiple times," Aaron said, "and it's an opinion I happen to agree with. What I was trying to say though is I don't believe I could feel about another the way I do you, although I suppose I will about our other mates once we find them. I know now that I love you and I think I have ever since you rescued me from my father who was going to rape me yet again. At first it wasn't a romantic type love, just gratefulness for being rescued and taken away from that life. Also, even though you made it clear that I was your mate you also said you wouldn't force the issue and you've proved over and over that you would never do such a thing. I know you would have waited forever, so I thought it was better to tell you of my feelings as you didn't seem to catch on. One of the things that really endeared me to you was that I knew you were completely honest and that you would never force yourself on anybody the way my father did on his only child."

"So you want to make this a permanent thing?" Dave asked just a little tentatively not sure if he was hearing Aaron right, probably because he had dreamed of something similar over the last four years, but yet never expected to receive such a great gift so soon. "You'll agree to be mine exclusively?"

"You'll be my first and only," Aaron swore. "I really don't believe I could ever be happy with anyone else, because the chances of finding someone with even half the qualities you possess are slim to none. Besides, as I said I love you, truly love you and I truly believe that being separated from you on a permanent basis would just rip me to pieces, emotionally at least."

"Good!" Dave exclaimed his voice turning instantly possessive. "I feel a little guilty for denying you the opportunity to at least experience having sex with someone besides me, but I'm also thrilled that I'm the only one you'll ever be with."

"Don't feel guilty," Aaron told Dave giving his lover another kiss. "This is my decision and my choice. I could go out there and try to connect to some woman, but I really don't think I could as every time I've looked at a woman in the last couple of years I saw she was beautiful, but it didn't affect me in that way. Yet every time I look at you I have to hide my reaction."

"Well, you won't have to do that anymore," Dave smiled finally relaxing. "I'll be happy to relieve you every time that happens, as I know you're still a young man and young men get erections quite frequently, much more frequently than someone who's older. Feel free to wake me up in the middle of the night if you need relief, because believe me, I won't be upset if you do so."

"I will," Aaron promised smiling. "You know some people just don't connect with more than one or two people sexually in their lives and I believe I'm one of them. Yes, I realize things might have been different if not for my father, because who knows if I would have gotten married perhaps, had a couple of kids. But don't think I regret at all that you'll be my one and only, because I don't, I was just thinking of how things could have been different if my father had been a decent man."

"I really can't blame you there," Dave said, as he gently stroked Aaron's naked arm. "If that had occurred I would've gone ahead with my original plan as I told you four years ago. I'm actually surprised that you can connect with me or anyone as a lot of people would have either killed themselves or closed themselves off from human contact."

"I suppose I'm just too tough mentally to do that," Aaron said. "Some people are you know, while others will go someplace in their own minds and never emerge again, and it's kind of like they're in a coma, although I know it's not exactly the same thing."

"No, they're just kind of mentally absent while a coma is a way for the body to heal from serious trauma, even if sometimes patients never come out of it," Dave said. "Still, they are similar."

"Also, as you mentioned earlier some people will close themselves of from falling in love, but are still able to form friendships, though a lot of times that's only surface, casual like," Aaron said. "I don't want to be like that."

"People are different and react in different ways to such a violent crime," Dave said. "I'm very glad you're not one to close yourself off from human contact, except on a very casual basis. I'm glad you wanted to try this."

"The psychologist was right you know," Aaron said.

"In what way?" Dave asked.

"That I needed to try to connect with someone sexually or I would deny myself something that makes life worth living. I know some people could never force themselves to do that depending on their personalities, but I wasn't about to let my father win by denying myself something that is essential to a person's health and happiness. I'm sure I could've lived without ever having sex with another, but I doubt I would've been truly happy relieving myself for the rest of my life," Aaron explained.

"Some people remain virgins all their lives," Dave pointed out logically.

"That's their choice and definitely not one I would make unless I had no other choice," said Aaron. "I hope my father is choking wherever he is when he sees that his son is not only happy, but with another man, as he definitely would not have approved, even though I believe that was his preference or maybe his preference was little children, because they are easier to dominate. He certainly tried to dominate me. As for the son of his loins he never would have approved of me dating or getting sexually involved with someone of the same-sex. I hope he's rotting in hell and my mother can join him when she finally dies."

"Guess your mother wasn't a very good parent either," Dave said. "I had already guessed as much just from the things you've said about her off and on over the last few years."

"No, she wasn't, not even from the time I was really small, at least not that I can remember," said Aaron. "Sometimes, I don't know why people bother to get married and have children, you know? It was apparent from when I was really young that I had been born more to give them a semblance of a perfect family then anything else. I don't believe I was ever really wanted, but my father was a lawyer and sometimes appearances were what mattered."

"Yes, I know and that was true even centuries ago," Dave said. "You were lucky to be born in the time that so many things are different. So many things thought impossible, even in the 20th Century are now reality. The 20th Century was where new discoveries in various fields were made almost every day."

"I suppose it would seem rather miraculous to someone like you who was born centuries ago," Aaron said thoughtfully, "but to me it just seems normal."

"Yeah, I guess it does, because you were born at a time with cars that can be computer-controlled for instance and also fly, instead of driving on the ground, shuttles that can get from place to place in only an hour or two depending on distance. Where the gasoline fumes are no longer eating away at the ozone layer or creating smog over places like Los Angeles as humans finally discovered an alternate form of fuel. Where the atmosphere has finally been cleaned up, so the air is much healthier and cleaner, and so have the lakes and oceans."

"You make everything sound idyllic," Aaron said.

"I wouldn't say idyllic," Dave disagreed, "but things are certainly better at least for the health of the planet then they were a couple hundred years ago. Things are never going to be perfect, as humans just aren't wired that way or immortals either, but at least most people are sensible and dispose of their waste in the proper way now. On the other side of the coin, humans may have advanced, but there always will be crimes like what happened to you for instance. No, nothing is ever perfect as people like your father still get away with committing things like rape on his son, getting away with it simply because he was a powerful man and you knew better then to report him. People commit murder every day for a multitude of reasons, or steal or abuse or bully others. Human beings or immortals, or magicals for that matter just aren't programed for a perfect utopia as we're to stubborn, ornery and sometimes just plain stupid to get along all the time."

"That is so true," Aaron chuckled. "All the drama that goes on your ordinary high school for example."

"Yes, that's true," Dave said. "I've experienced every type of human behavior you can imagine over the centuries."

"While this conversation is fascinating, I believe we can be doing other things," Aaron suggested.

Dave looked at Aaron understanding what he meant instantly and was eager for another round.

"If you're sure, I'll be ecstatic to accommodate you," Dave told Aaron, grinning like mad, as he was practically bubbling over with enthusiasm and happiness.

"I don't think I'll ever get enough of you making love to me," Aaron admitted softly, smiling a little. "You made it the most a wonderful experience of my life. You were tender, gentle and kind, you didn't just ram yourself into me like father used to do just to get off."

"As I said before what your father did was all about domination over another and I could never do that to you. You don't treat your mate, as if they mean nothing to you other than as a way to relieve yourself. No, you treat them as an equal. Once you gain some experience you're welcome to be on top instead of the bottom, unless you prefer to always have me on top which is again fine, as I'll always be accommodating to what you want. Whatever decisions there are to be made we'll discuss together."

"I think I would like to try that sometime," Aaron decided. "Being on top I mean."

"When you want to let me know," Dave said.

"I just need to gain some experience first, as I never had a chance to fool around with a girl or boy for that matter," Aaron said.

"No, you weren't at the age to do that when I rescued you," Dave agreed calmly. "Most boys don't do that until they are at least 15 or 16, even if they get their first kiss at 13 or 14."

"I never even had a chance to do that," Aaron sighed. "I'm not sure I could have ever kissed a girl actually considering what was going on with my home life."

"I know you were denied so many things that most teenagers experience," Dave said.

"It doesn't matter," Aaron told him, seriously kissing him briefly on the lips. "I'm just going to forget about that portion of my past, as much as I can. Besides, thanks to you I've experienced more then I likely would have before I was fifty or sixty, so you've helped me see the good side of humanity, even if I know there's also a bad side."

"That was my intent," Dave said. "As was having fun along the way."

"Oh, we did have fun," Aaron agreed smiling, as he remembered. "So many exotic places, France, Italy, Rome, Spain, even Australia. I saw so many of the famous sites, sites that have been there for hundreds of years or even longer."

"We barely even started exploring those countries," Dave said. "The two of us will go back many times over the centuries as things change all the time."

"I'm really looking forward to it," Aaron said meaning it.

"So am I, as I haven't had a lover or even sex in years," Dave admitted.

"Whyever not?" asked Aaron in astonishment.

"Well, I actually discovered you when you were around three," Dave said. "I knew I'd have to wait years for you to grow up, so I traveled some, spent time with my parents, my siblings, then I finally decided I was going to buy or rent a house in your neighborhood once you were about 14 as you know. As for why I never had sex with anyone, well, for one thing I wouldn't be able to have sex with a mortal more than a few times before they started to turn immortal themselves, well, not without using a condom everytime anyway and as for another immortal. While that was possible it would have to be someone who hadn't found their mate. Mates simply don't cheat on each other, ever, because they don't ever want to. As for why I haven't been in a relationship or even a few one night stands the answer is simple really. I would have felt guilty for cheating on you, even though you were just a toddler at the time and you never would have known unless I had told you. I suppose you could say I was bound to you, from the moment I saw you."

"That is so sweet and romantic," Aaron decided smiling sappily. "Especially when you had no idea if I would even be agreeable to a relationship. It must have been hard on you, since your body is 30 after all, even if you are considerably older."

"I won't claim it wasn't difficult, but it was worth it, just to have you here in my arms now and you've agreed to exclusivity." Dave said, kissing Aaron tenderly.

Aaron sighed in happiness and contentment, as he felt a rush of what he now knew was love.

"You are the only one for me and I might've decided that, even if I had more sexual experience before we actually met," Aaron said. "That pull that I felt is a powerful force."

"It doesn't matter," Dave said, smiling joyfully. "We belong to each other now and to our other mates once we find them."

"Let's hope that doesn't happen for a few years anyway," Aaron said. "I want you all to myself for at least the next 30 or 40 years. Time for just us, for me too mature more and for us to have time to get to know each other, even better then we already do."

"I think we know each other quite well considering that we've been together four years, not sexually I know, but still, I hope we don't find them for a decade or two anyway as it will give you time to grow up some. Yes, you're pretty mature now and certainly capable of making your own decisions, but still, you'll gain more experience with the world as you grow and that will change your mental processes," Dave explained.

"Well, at least it's legal for us to get married," Aaron grinned.

"If that's what you want once you are a few years older I'll be happy to tie the knot with you and in fact, it will give me great joy to do so," Dave said.

"So what would you go for one of those one year contracts? Five years? Ten?" Aaron teased him.

"If we do get married we are going for traditional, which basically means a lifetime," Dave told him, seriously. "It's only been in the last 150 years that those other types of marriage have been legalized. Even back in the 20th century if you got married it was for life unless you got a divorce. Many people made bad decisions back then so I do understand the government offering a year, 5 or even 10 year contracts. However, since you're my mate that means that there will be no others for either one of us, well, other then our other mates of course, so there's no point of getting any other except traditional."

"If I wanted to be cynical I would say it also brought in extra money and that was likely the main motivation behind the senates decision at that time," Aaron said

"I'm sure you're right," Dave laughed kissing Aaron again, still unable to believe that this beautiful 18 year-old had agreed to exclusivity. He would have thought that Aaron would have wanted to get out explore the world some before settling down. At least, he could've gotten a job, perhaps dated some, but on the other hand, Dave also understood why Aaron didn't want to do that, because it would be hard to tell anyone about what he had endured if he happened to get close to someone whether male or female. On the third hand, he already knew what had happened to Aaron in the first place, since he was the one that rescued him and the pull, soul recognizing soul, was a powerful force, something he was well aware of. Dave supposed that he had done a good job of showing Aaron the world and would continue to do so, so that was one thing off his mental checklist.

Aaron was right when he said that he might not have been able to do much traveling, depending on how busy he was or how much money he made at least not until he was older. Still, Dave wasn't going argue if Aaron was content and happy to stay with him as the young man had made several good points.

Connecting with anybody else, even their other mates might be hard or even impossible for him because of the brutality in his childhood. Also he was honest enough to try to tell them about what happened to him as a child, which sounded like something out of a horror story. Oh, brutal rape and murder still happened all the time as it was often on the news, but still, most people didn't understand when they were told that kind of thing. They would either break off the relationship or the engagement or not stand by their spouse, husband, wife, girlfriend or boyfriend.

Unfortunately, most people believed even today that it was the woman's fault, that she had supposedly led the man on. And while male rape was pretty rare it still happened and the reactions were about the same, though women tended to be more empathic and understanding then the male half of the species. Not always of course, just most times.

It didn't matter, Dave decided. He would show Aaron all the love that he had been denied as a child. He had heard all about Aaron's childhood by now and while it wasn't unusual it was still sad that human beings could act like that, could abuse their own children.

Dave started to make love to Aaron again and the two of them enjoyed themselves immensely for the rest of the day and far into the night before falling into an exhausted slumber.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3

Eight years later

Dave looked at a Aaron appreciatively and knew he was very lucky to have such a handsome man as his mate. Aaron was now 26 years old and had matured considerably, since the two of them had started making love when he was 18 and even more from the abused 14-year-old boy that he had rescued a dozen years previously. Aaron had changed so much in those dozen years and Dave was immensely proud of him. The two of them had been dating openly for the last couple years, since their ages were closer, since six years meant nothing and really they looked around the same age as Aaron had aged, to where you couldn't really tell that he wasn't 30, as he definitely didn't look 26. Oh, he still looked young, just like he did, but definitely a few years older than his actual age, as he just had that kind of face.

Dave had every intention of proposing tonight, just as he had promised Aaron he would when he had still been just an 18-year-old young man, one who had just reached his maturity.

"Ready to go?" Dave asked smiling, as he watched Aaron finish getting dressed.

"Yes," Aaron answered, as he looked at Dave who stood in the doorway of the bathroom.

"Well, let's go then or we'll be late for our reservation," Dave said smiling then added. "You look good enough to eat, bello."

"Thank you," Aaron smiled at the endearment.

He had gained a lot more self-confidence since he and Dave had, become lovers on his 18th birthday. Dave had been very attentive, but not in a way that he felt smothered, as he let him experience things for himself, but was always there to help out if needed. Because of the way Dave did things he had definitely grown in self-confidence, not that he hadn't had plenty of that when he was 18, but he'd gotten, even more so, as he had grown and experienced different parts of human culture. Also Dave had taught him so much about the human body and about sex in general, that he absolutely adored making love to Dave and vice versa. The two of them spent quite a bit of time in bed with each other, but also Dave had shown him things he doubted he ever would have experienced by himself. Dave had taught him to live his life with honor, honesty integrity, understanding, compassion and kindness and he would never want to disappoint his mentor, his friend, his lover, his mate in anyway, even if he knew Dave would still love him if he did so.

"We had better go before I strip that outfit off you and make love to your gorgeous body," Dave said, almost drooling barely managing to contain his reaction.

"We can do that after we get back," Aaron said smiling.

"Oh, I intend to," Dave grinned. "This is the 8th anniversary of when we first became lovers and also your birthday, so I intend to make love to you all night long, but first we'll go out for a nice dinner and a play."

Aaron had learned to love plays over the last 12 years thanks to Dave and so the two of them went rather frequently to different ones. They also went to the vids and did other things to keep themselves entertained. The two of them often took romantic walks around their property, as they owned quite a few acres.

"Well, I'm certainly looking forward to coming back home," Aaron said smiling, as he imagined the night of lovemaking to come.

"Believe me, so am I," Dave said, smiling.

The two men headed to the car and Aaron got behind the wheel, of the newest model of Lexus, a very expensive brand name, but then Dave would never buy anything except the best.

Dave had bought him a brand-new car, as soon as he got his driver's license and Aaron had treasured it, until he had turned it in about four years ago and bought a new one, as cars only lasted so long after all.

Aaron drove towards the restaurant that they had both chosen and thought about how his life had changed ever since Dave had rescued him at 14 from his parents, particularly his father. He had learned so many things thanks to the other man that he would always be grateful. He wasn't exactly sure what would've happened to him if Dave hadn't intervened and although he wished Dave had done so earlier he also understood that he had no way of knowing that he was being abused until that night.

Aaron loved Dave so much that he knew it was enough to last for an eternity and he assumed he would feel the same way once they found their other mates. He hoped that didn't happen for another few decades anyway, as really he and Dave hadn't been together all that long in that way. Still, it had been a rather interesting and happy eight years for both of them and really a dozen, although they hadn't become lovers until his 18th birthday as Dave's ethics were ironclad on that subject, something he could definitely respect.

"Well, here we are," Aaron said finally.

Dave opened his door while Aaron did the same and the two men entered the restaurant hand in hand.

They were seated right away, as they were well known there, as they probably ate at Fjäderholmarnas Krog at least once a week and the fact that they both were also good tippers had something to do with it as well.

"It's hard to believe we've been together for eight years," Dave said once that food had been served.

"Yeah, I know, the time has passed so quickly," Aaron agreed.

"It does that when you're really happy, Bello," Dave told Aaron. "You've certainly matured in the dozen years I've known you."

"People do that," Aaron said smiling at the man he loved so deeply.

"So no regrets?" Dave asked.

"Absolutely none," Aaron promised him. "I sincerely believe that I never would've been so happy with anyone but you even if my father hadn't..."

"Yes, I know there's no need to bring up painful memories," Dave admonished him gently.

"I suspect that once I had graduated college my parents likely would have tried to arrange a marriage for me, as that still happens even today in some of the wealthiest families. My parents marriage was arranged and I can see them trying to arrange one for their only son. Thanks to your intervention though that didn't happen," Aaron said smiling at the handsome man across the table.

"Glad to be of service," Dave said, smiling.

"I use the word try, because I doubt I would have agreed to be married to some stranger, or even to someone I met a handful of times at high class social functions," Aaron asked.

"Arranged marriages are just antiquated," Dave decided. "I could understand that back when there were far fewer people in the world, but not today, where the population has grown so much."

"Some of the wealthier families in Virginia and elsewhere still do it though," Aaron said

"Well, let's not worry about that," Dave said smiling. "Your father is long dead, and your mother will soon follow him."

The two men chatted about happier subjects like what they wanted to do for the summer as they usually traveled, although not necessarily in the warmer months. Really, they only stayed in Sweden about half a year and traveled for the rest of it.

The two of them finished dinner and then decided to take a walk, before they headed home to make love for what remained of the night.

Dave paid the check and then the two of them strolled out of the restaurant hand-in-hand.

The two said nothing for sometime as they simply enjoyed the beautiful night.

Dave reached into his pocket while Aaron was distracted looking out over the scenery. When Aaron turned back to him Dave was ready.

"Will you marry me?" Dave asked holding out a ring box.

Aaron stood there stunned for a few seconds and then wrapped himself around Dave kissing him for all he was worth.

"Is that yes," Dave teased him.

"You already know the answer to that," Aaron told him smiling. "I mean we are mates and you turned me immortal quite some time ago, so it's not like I'm going to say no."

"Still, I did tell you I would propose once you were a little older so that we looked similar in age," Dave said. "I figured doing it on our anniversary and also your birthday was appropriate."

"Ever the romantic," Aaron teased him, though inwardly he was touched, even as Dave slipped the engagement ring onto his finger.

"So I'm assuming you don't want anything complicated like most women do," Dave said.

"No, I say we just get married in a fast civil ceremony," Aaron said.

"Alright, whatever you want is fine," Dave said by way of agreement. "We might not get off so easy if one of our mates happens to be female."

"Well, that's for the future," Aaron said. "I think it's time to go home so we can make love."

"What a great idea," Dave said grinning from ear to ear he was so happy. "It is our anniversary and your birthday after all."

"And what better way to celebrate?" Aaron grinned.

"Exactly," Dave agreed wholeheartedly.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

40 years later

"Dave! Guess what?" Aaron exclaimed, as he walked briskly into the house.

"What has you so excited?" Dave asked smiling.

Aaron was now 58 years old although he didn't look it, as he now looked the same age as he was and that was 30, Dave thought. Still, Dave had been happy at the transformation in Aaron, as he had gotten over the rape he had endured as a child.

It had taken both a psychologist and his own affects to help Aaron get past it. Also Aaron's own strong mindedness had helped, but he had mostly done so because of his love and support Dave knew. Still, his lover had transformed beyond all recognition from the 14 year old he had rescued from an abusive home and he was very proud if him.

"I think I met another of our mates," Aaron told him.

"Oh?" Dave asked suddenly giving Aaron his full attention, for this was important news indeed.

"Yes," Aaron answered smiling. "I recognized the pull immediately."

Dave nodded at this for the pull of soul to soul was indeed a powerful force and you never forgot what it felt like no matter how long since you had last felt it.

"So what is this person's name?" Dave asked.

"Jennifer Jareau, although she appears to go by JJ," Aaron answered.

"Well, I expected to hear a male name, but apparently our next mate is female," Dave said. "Is that going to be difficult for you, as you never been with a female before."

"You know, I don't know," Aaron admitted thoughtfully. "I've gotten over what happened to me as a child thanks mainly to you, but considering this JJ is our mate to both of us I'm assuming I won't have any trouble with making love to her, but we'll just have to see."

"Yes, we'll just have to see," Dave agreed. "Hopefully, you won't have any problems."

"Well, first we have to win her," Aaron said. "Threesomes and even foursomes are common nowadays and perfectly legal, but that doesn't mean that we can convince this Jennifer to at least try it, as she might be extremely traditional."

"Which means one husband," Dave said.

"Unless they get divorced," Aaron said.

"So where did you run into this Jennifer?" Dave asked.

"In Computer Wiz's," Aaron said. "You know I went there to buy a new computer for the house, as they do have to be replaced every few years or they get slow or develop other problems. I was so shocked that I just left again, so I'll have to go back."

Computer Wiz's was a chain of computer stores that had been opened by a young genius and sold some of the best computer products, although they did tend to be expensive, because everything they sold was high quality.

"So was she shopping there or was she an employee?" Dave asked.

"I believe she was shopping," Aaron said, as he remembered the brief encounter. "She wasn't wearing an employees shirt or anything, although I suppose it could've been her day off."

"Well then, she was likely shopping for a new computer or something that goes with one," Dave said. "We are going to have to do a background check on her and luckily, I know someone that can do that."

"Of course you do," Aaron teased him. "You know just about anybody that can be useful on occasion."

"It doesn't hurt to have people owe you favors," Dave shrugged casually.

"No, it certainly doesn't," Aaron agreed smiling, as he to knew a few useful people that he could call upon if needed.

"So you met this Jennifer and talked to her for a minute at least getting her name," Dave said. "You said you felt an immediate attraction, well, she would have to."

"Yeah, she appears to be cautious, as I couldn't get much personal information out of her," Aaron said. "But since I am a stranger, that's probably wise."

"Yeah, it is, as anybody could turn out to be a serial killer or some other type of criminal or even just a bastard who wants to get into her pants," Dave agreed. "Still, it'll likely make her harder to find because how many Jennifer's are there in Chicago?"

"Yes, but we have a last name and that's bound to help," Aaron said.

"Definitely and the surname Jareau isn't that common, so it should be relatively easy, to find one Jennifer Jareau, even in somewhere as large as Chicago." Dave agreed. "I'll just go contact my friend on the police force and have him look up this Jennifer Jareau. For all we know she's married and has three or four children."

"She probably isn't married, because I didn't see a wedding ring on her finger and believe me, I looked, but she could still have a kid or two."

"Yeah, women have children out of wedlock all the time," Dave agreed. "Sometimes it's a genuine desire for a child before you get too old or it could be an accident."

"Or you could have a child and then get divorced," Aaron said.

"That's a possibility too," Dave said. "If she does happen to have a child we'll adopt him or her, perhaps turn them immortal when they a few years older, though only with JJ's consent."

"And the child, as that's only right," Aaron said.

"If we do that we'll have to wait until they're at least a teenager," Dave said.

"But it's the right thing to do," Aaron said.

"Yeah, it is," Dave agreed, thinking that Aaron's morals and values were rock solid, which was absolutely amazing considering his upbringing until he was 14. "However, there is no point in speculating as she might not have any children."

"And if she doesn't we can correct that," Aaron smirked.

"Yeah, we can," Dave grinned at the thought. "As happy as I've been with you, I've always wanted children, you know? Of course, don't believe for a minute I was sad that neither one of us could procreate, because I'm not, as you are essential on my happiness, but children are not, as much as I'd like to have a few."

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind having a few either, even if I've been really happy with you for the last 40 years," Aaron said calmly.

"Still, this will be another level of happiness," Dave said, not showing how relieved he felt that Aaron had taken his comment so well. They did know each other extremely well, as they had been together for over 40 years after all, but this type of conversation had never come up before so both of them were on unfamiliar ground.

"You know we might need hire a private investigator just to find out where she goes fairly frequently," Aaron said.

"Yeah, we may," Dave agreed, "but on the other hand we don't want her to believe we're spying on her either."

"I don't know how we are going to run into her if we don't, except though sheer dumb luck," Aaron said.

"I truly believe that if we're meant to meet we will keep running into her on accident," said Dave.

"Well, we'll see," Aaron said skeptically

"Yes, we'll see," Dave said. "We might have to do something drastic like hire that private investigator, but I'd rather save that as a last option as we don't want to offend her."

"No, that's the last thing we need," Aaron definitely agreed with that.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

"Hey! It's nice to see you again," JJ said

Aaron and Dave had gone to the Chicago History Museum as they wanted to be visible, so that they'd perhaps run into JJ on accident. Besides, they had been wanted to go for awhile and just had never done so.

Personally, Aaron believed that Dave's theory was way out there, but who knew it could work. It didn't do any harm to be seen at places near the Computer Wiz where he had met JJ since both he and Dave figured that she probably lived within a few minutes of it. After all, why would someone go out of their way to go to someplace like that when there were several in a city the size of Chicago.

"Hey yourself," Aaron smiled inwardly amazed that Dave had been right after all. The two of them had been going multiple places over the last few days and while he had enjoyed himself they hadn't run into JJ even once, so he had believed that Dave's theory was all wet and yet here she was.

"I didn't expect to run into you here," JJ said trying not to blush at the two handsome men.

"You never expect to run into somebody you know, even if you only met briefly," Dave said, as he studied JJ. "Oh, sorry, I didn't introduce myself, David Rossi at your service my lady."

"It's nice to meet you," JJ said noticing the wedding band and then she noticed that Aaron also wore one and was very disappointed that neither one of them was free.

Oh, well, that was the way her luck ran, JJ mentally sighed, not even thinking about the fact that it was quite legal to marry three, four or even five people so long as they could support themselves and their children.

"Why don't you join us," Aaron offered smiling at her charmingly, causing JJ to simply melt and give in without a fuss. For some reason she was more attracted to these two men then she had been to her former boyfriend and lover, who had left her with the little gift, who would be born in six months.

JJ had made the decision to keep the baby, as she had been wanting children for a couple years anyway, because even though women could have children into their fifties now and come out just fine she preferred to have them while she was still young. This was likely the only child she was going to have, unless she found herself a man that she could love that wouldn't mind that she made more money than they did. She made over two hundred thousand a year, so she certainly had enough to support three or four children even in this day and age, since she made such a good living. Of course, it was possible for whoever she married to make at least as much as she did or more, but not many jobs paid so well, though some paid better then hers did.

She had already decided to name him Henry since she knew it was going to be a boy, as she had learned that just a few days ago.

"Why not?" JJ told them. "Since we appear to be heading in the same direction anyway."

This time Dave smiled at her and again and JJ melted thinking that these two men had some of the sexiest smiles she had ever encountered. It was really too bad that they were apparently taken with each other.

"So come here often?" Aaron asked.

"Oh, occasionally," JJ answered, as she pretended to pay them no attention, as she had already acted like an idiot, blushing just because they smiled at her. "I like to come here whenever they have a new exhibit."

"So how about we take you out to dinner after we are finished here, so we can continue to have the pleasure of your company?" Dave suggested.

"Why? You barely know me," JJ said astonished.

"Well, this is a chance to get to know each other," Aaron pointed out, using the power of his smile, which he was aware drove women wild with desire, not that they ever got what they wanted from him. "After all, you can't have to many friends."

"While this is true how do you know I'm not married?" JJ asked.

"Well, for one thing you're not wearing a wedding ring and yes, I'm aware that doesn't necessarily mean anything in today's society, since a lot of people don't bother to wear them, even when they are married," Dave said.

"The two of you are married," JJ pointed out. "I'm assuming to each other."

"That doesn't really matter in today's society," Aaron told her. "Maybe we're looking for another partner."

JJ looked startled for she hadn't considered that. "That's true, although that's not something I had considered it until you mentioned it. That's mostly on the Moon and Mars though where the males are more prevalent than the females."

"Still, it happens here on earth to and it's perfectly legal," Dave told her.

"It might not be as common as it is on the Moon or Mars, but it still happens," Aaron added.

"This is very true," JJ admitted. "I never thought about being part of a group instead of a more traditional marriage."

"But you aren't against the idea?" Dave asked trying to hide his anxiety.

"I'm not really sure actually," JJ admitted. "I've never even considered being part of a group marriage."

"How do you feel about dating?" Dave asked.

"Both of you?" JJ asked in surprise. "I mean we just met after all. Aren't you kind of rushing it along?"

"I suppose we are," Aaron admitted looking at Dave.

"We just want to know if you'd be willing to give it a try right now," Dave said

"Why the interest?" JJ asked. "I mean I can tell you to are very happy together I wouldn't think you'd want to add anyone else, as that would ruin the unity you seem to have."

"Let's just say that I was attracted to you when I was in Computer Wiz's a few days ago," Aaron said. "Now, before Dave and I met I had never really been attracted to anybody else."

Of course I was only 14 at the time, but JJ didn't know that, Aaron added in his thoughts.

"It surprised me when I was attracted to you, when we met briefly in the computer store," Aaron added. "I told Dave about you as soon as I got home and he thought a threesome might be worth a try, if we happened to run into you again and you were interested."

"We think that this will add something to our relationship," Dave added. "Of course, it's your choice."

"Well, that's certainly an interesting offer considering we're really strangers," JJ said, though inwardly she was thrilled with the offer for some reason she couldn't explain.

"Well, we really didn't expect to run into you again, so we were kind of surprised when we did," Aaron admitted.

"Besides, think of all the blind dates, that people go on and they are strangers as well just meeting for the first time and some of those even work out," Dave said. "So we don't know anything about each other right now, but that could change if you're willing to give it a try."

It was a good point, JJ admitted to herself.

"Why don't you think about it for a few days and well give you our link numbers so you can call and tell the two of us when you reach a decision," Aaron suggested.

"I would like to give it a try as I really like both of you," JJ admitted candidly. "A date to test the waters so to speak."

"Good," Dave said extremely happy with JJ's decision and he knew that Aaron was as well without even having to ask.

"So we can do a date tonight if you like or we can wait a few days," Aaron said.

"Tonight will be fine, as I really don't have anyone other than my cat to go home to," JJ said, a little shyly pushing a long strand of blonde hair behind one ear. She couldn't really believe this incredible opportunity that was being placed before her, but she was certainly going to give it a try with these two handsome men who seemed so sincere. Of course, she was well aware that things might not work out, but how did she know if she didn't take a chance? Her last boyfriend hadn't been very considerate, considering he had gotten her pregnant, but these two men seemed like a totally different kettle of fish. She would certainly find that out if they dated for any length of time.

"We should finish our tour and then go out to dinner," Dave said.

"I've got to go home and choose an appropriate outfit," JJ protested. "Especially if you could take me somewhere really nice."

"I think we can stick to casual right now considering it's very last minute," Aaron said.

"Yes, I think casual will do for tonight," Dave agreed. "We can do something more formal later. There's really no need to rush it along."

Dave's libido protested that last statement, but he tamped it down firmly and knew that Aaron was doing the same beside him.

"How does Merino's sound?" Aaron suggested.

"Sounds like a very good suggestion," JJ said brightening. "I go there all the time."

"Well, good then you'll be comfortable there, since you're familiar with it," Dave said. "We go there sometimes to."

JJ thought that the three of them were off to a very good start, since they both liked some of the same places or at least one anyway, but she was sure that they find other things all three of them liked and disliked.

The three of them continued their tour of the exhibits admiring the history of Chicago, before it grew late enough for dinner.

"I made a reservation at Merino's, so we have about half an hour," Dave said.

"We had better go then," JJ said.

"We can take your car or we can our car and we can always come back for the other later," Dave suggested

"We'll take both cars," JJ said. "I'll meet you there."

Dave and Aaron were disappointed, but they also understood.

"Alright then, we'll meet you there in about 15 minutes," Aaron said.

The three of them exited the history museum heading for their separate cars, so they could go to dinner.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~


	4. Chapter 4

Part 4

JJ laughed, as she watched Dave and Aaron goof off in the heated pool, that was part of the property that the two of them had bought when they moved to Chicago. It was three months later and she was now showing her pregnancy. Both Dave and Aaron had been thrilled that she was pregnant, even though the child wasn't either of theirs and had promised to adopt him if their relationship worked out.

JJ was very happy that they had taken the news so well, both of them, because she was well aware that most men would have wanted her to get an abortion which she wasn't about to do or give the baby away once he was born, which she wasn't about to do either. A man like that would have found themselves thrown out on their ear, but luckily Dave and Aaron weren't like that as they couldn't stop from rubbing her belly tenderly obviously excited waiting for the child to be born.

It was a good thing that they were so excited, because it made JJ love them all the more and she had been immensely attracted to both of them from the very beginning, an unusual event.

She wasn't sure why she was so attracted to both of them, as she could've understood her being attracted to one of them, since they were both incredibly handsome, but not both at the same time. When she had met Aaron in Computer Wiz's her attraction had hit her like a ton of bricks and caught her by surprise, as she had never expected it, but then who would? She knew that that instant fizz of attraction was possible, because it happened to other people all the time, but she had certainly never expected it to happen to her. Then the same thing had happened when she met Aaron's partner Dave and that had shocked her. How could she be strongly attracted to two such handsome men at the same time, but she had a been and still was, which she had come to think of as a good thing. She knew that there was no way she'd get Aaron or Dave to separate so she would be happy to take both of them if that's what they wanted, because it was definitely what she wanted. She admitted that a threesome had been a rather weird concept at first, even though she knew it was quite common particularly on the moon and Mars, but now it was normal and she wouldn't give either one of them up for anything.

The way the two of them were goofing off in the water showed JJ that they still could act like children, even though they were older and that meant they hadn't lost their sense of fun, which was a major bonus. JJ liked the way that Dave and Aaron teased each other and teased her to, though they made sure never to go to far considering her condition.

JJ knew it was very soon into their relationship, but she knew she was in love with both of them, though she was aware that her emotions were little bit off-kilter and also stronger due to her pregnancy, but she was sure of her feelings.

"Having fun?" Dave asked once he and Aaron were done playing and dunking each other.

"Oh, yes," JJ said sincerely. "I'm having the best time."

"Well, good," Aaron said smiling. "You'll get to chance to be dunked once your son is born."

"But right now we need to be gentle with you, as we don't want anything to happen to that precious burden your carrying," Dave added.

"Something I'm grateful for because I'm probably not up to being dunked right now," JJ smiled. "I hope you know that you're rather unusual among men, both of you."

"In what way?" Aaron asked curiously.

"In the way, that you're very considerate," JJ said. "Believe me, I've dated some men that didn't have consideration for me at all. They complained that I worked too much, they complained that I didn't spend enough time with them, they complained that I made more than they did... Well you get the idea. If one of them had got me pregnant they probably would've demanded I get an abortion and if I didn't..."

"They probably would've left without a word, refusing to acknowledge that the baby was theirs, even though they were the ones who were irresponsible," Dave said

"And if I was seeing someone who wasn't the father of the baby, well, they wouldn't even consider I was pregnant, before dunking me for example if we had an indoor pool somewhere. They wouldn't have remembered to be gentle and probably would've been insulted if they were reminded," JJ added. "Some of them acted like they should be the most important person in my life and if they had demanded I get an abortion well, I would've shown them the door, because I make plenty enough to raise several children on my own."

"Yes, a lot of men can be insensitive, boorish gits," Dave said with a straight face.

"Not going to defend the male species?" JJ teased him.

"What's the point when you're right?" Aaron asked, smiling. "We're not unaware of the faults in a lot of the male species."

"We're not going to be insulted when you say stuff like that, especially since it's true," Dave added.

"Good," JJ said. "That's certainly one fault you don't possess like so many men do. Actually, you're damn near perfect, at least for me."

"Does that mean you want to make our relationship a permanent one?" Dave asked trying to hide his anxiety and he didn't get anxious about much.

"Yes," JJ said and watched Aaron and Dave looked at her stunned before they whooped for joy.

Both men swam over to her and picked her up and spun her around, doing this easily, even though she probably weighed an extra 15 pounds.

"You mean it?" Aaron asked.

"Yes, I do," JJ promised smiling.

"So you'll agree to exclusivity for the next few centuries," Dave said smiling.

"In other words, forever," Aaron added also smiling.

They had told JJ about a six weeks into their relationship how they were immortal and at first JJ had been disbelieving, but then who wouldn't be? She had been prepared to break it off thinking the two of them insane until they had proved it to her.

JJ had been rather stunned at first, understandably, but then had asked them a million questions all of which they had struggled to answer, but finally she had been satisfied at least temporarily.

She had been absolutely fascinated and enthralled when Aaron had cut himself on the hand and it had healed nearly instantly. They had then told her exactly how old they really were and JJ had been amazed. Dave was several hundred years older than Aaron was and had been born in the early 20th century, while Aaron had been born in the late 22nd century.

"I really don't believe I could find anybody better than you two, someone considerate, kind, generous, loving, passionate and tender. So explain to me why I would throw away the two best things in my life, except for what swims in here," JJ said pointing at her belly. "Besides, I believe you when you say we're soulmates, simply because I have never been this attracted to anyone else in my life and I dated frequently before we met."

"Well, as much as Aaron and I would love to take you upstairs, I think it's going to have to wait until after you get birth," Dave said.

"Why?" JJ asked curiously.

"Because I'm not sure what our seed will do to a mortal pregnant woman not to mention the baby you're carrying," Dave explained. "Neither Aaron or I would hurt you or little Henry for anything in the world."

"It might not do you any harm," Aaron added, "but we're not sure you see. Better to be safe than sorry as the saying goes."

"Oh my, so that means probably at least another four months or so," JJ said, not looking happy at that prospect, but then what woman would be? "It's going to be a long wait."

"Well, we can still do some things," Dave informed her smiling. "I just don't want to risk penetration until after this baby is born."

"Believe me, Dave's very good at other sexual techniques," Aaron grinned.

"That's with another man though," JJ pointed out.

"I've been with women before," Dave promised her, "although it's been about 65 years, so I'm not exactly in practice."

"That would have been before Aaron was born," JJ said.

"Yes, it was and in fact I knew he was my mate when he was three years old. Yes, I could've gotten into a relationship or even just multiple one night stands, while he grew up, as he never would've known, but I would've felt rather disloyal," Dave admitted sheepishly.

"We'll have to tell you the story sometime about how he rescued me," Aaron said.

"Why not now?" JJ asked.

"Because I don't think you need to hear that while you're pregnant, as it won't be very pleasant," Aaron said calmly.

"Alright," JJ said not pressing the issue, as she could tell the subject still pained Aaron a great deal, even after all these decades. Besides, if it was that unpleasant Aaron was right she didn't need to hear it until after she had recovered from the birth of Henry."

"I think we can make out rather heavily, as I suggested a few minutes ago so long as we're careful not to go to far," Dave said, smiling at the prospect.

"Alright," JJ agreed smiling excitedly.

"The most comfortable place to do this is probably our bed upstairs," Aaron said.

"I say we try it right here in the water," JJ said, "as we have a natural buoyancy and since I'm heavily pregnant and I believe it will just be easier."

"If that's what the lady wants," Dave said smiling.

"Then that's what the lady gets," Aaron finished. "Though we'll have to be careful not to drown, particularly JJ."

"We'll just do it in the shallow end," Dave said smiling in anticipation, his expression positively gleeful.

The three of them swam to the shallow end of the pool quickly.

"I think it's best if we leave our swim trunks on for now so that Aaron and I aren't tempted to go farther than we should," Dave said.

"That's probably wise," Aaron said. "You though, need to be completely bare."

JJ scrambled to remove her swimsuit and flung it, so that it landed on the side of the pool.

"You have a gorgeous body," Dave told JJ. "Absolutely gorgeous. Personally, I can't wait until Henry is born and then I want you to get pregnant by either Aaron or I immediately after you're immortal, so that Henry has a brother or sister."

"That's a possibility," JJ said smiling. "I'd like to get married first though."

"If that's what you want then I'm certainly willing," Aaron said immediately.

"Me too, as you're our mate after all, and it's not like we're ever going to get divorced," Dave agreed.

"We'll make it a triple ceremony," Aaron said.

"But aren't you and Dave already married?" JJ asked.

"Technically, yes," Dave agreed. "We got married when Aaron was 26, and we'd been together that way since he was 18, as we had sex for the first time on his birthday."

"We'll explain how that happened after you give birth," Aaron promised solemnly, "as it's part of that story I told you, you need to wait to hear."

"I think it's about time to ask our hacker friend to change our history anyway where we born only 30 years ago," Dave said.

"You know someone that can do that? Get past the government department that keeps a watch on that kind thing?" JJ asked amazed.

"Yep, and she's immortal to," Dave grinned. "She was born several decades after I was in the 1960s. She's excellent on computers, one of the best computer hackers I've ever known, but then she's had centuries to learn. She's also mated and has been for the last 100 years."

"So what's her name, sounds like somebody I'd love to meet her," JJ said smiling.

"Penelope Garcia," Aaron said grinning. "She's one-of-a-kind trust me, you'll know what I mean when you meet her."

"Now that's the truth. She's very…flamboyant," Dave added smiling. "She has a very upbeat and cheerful, but outrageous personality. We've been very good friends, ever since we first met and Aaron has become good friends with her in the last 50 years."

"She's impossible not to like unless you don't have a sense of humor," Aaron added.

"She's the best hacker in the world as far as I know, as she's never been caught and in fact, the government doesn't even know she exists," Dave said. "She was born long before the government saw a need to keep an eye on people trying to do something illegal through their computers, because the technology hadn't been invented until the late 21st century. Sure we had the Internet, and there was a lot of things you could do that was illegal on it, but as technology became more and more advanced including computers..."

"People could literally get away with murder and nobody would know unless somebody was watching out for that kind of thing," JJ said.

"Exactly," Dave agreed. "Oh, illegal acts still go on all the time over somebody's link or their computer, but they risk being caught and a large percentage are, but a lot are not."

"In any case, Penelope or Penny as she prefers to be called can do a whole new past for each of us, well, except for you in this case, even if she will have to in the future," Aaron said

"By the time she's done there won't be any mention of Aaron or I in the last 50 years, actually make that 100 just in case, as our whole history will be simply gone," Dave said. "She'll then invent a whole new past for us that will be basically the same with a few changes."

"So no record of your previous marriage will exist," JJ realized.

"Exactly and since we got married so long ago and we still look so young it's better to have our hacker friend reinvent us anyway. Oh, we could claim we had sculpting done, to look the way we do now and yes, Penelope could certainly add those records if we asked her to, but why would somebody who's over 90 be getting married to someone whose only a little over 30? It happens all the time I know, but still, it makes more sense for us to be the same age or a few years older or younger, as to me it would look less suspicious," Dave said.

"Something I agree with," Aaron said.

"Yes, it does make sense, even if it is illegal," JJ said. "However, I realize that you probably have to do many things you'd rather not just to stay under the radar."

"Yes, we do," Dave agreed. "We're not hurting anyone really, as we're not criminals on the lam or trying to avoid the police."

"I think that's enough of that," Aaron said, as he looked at JJ's body that was mostly underwater except for the top of breasts, her shoulders and her head.

"Yes, I think you're right," Dave agreed, with a lustful smirk.

JJ was shocked suddenly, as Aaron got behind her and held her gently as Dave began to suck on her breasts that were mostly above water.

JJ began to whimper as pleasure surged through her immediately, as the feelings she was suddenly experiencing were simply indescribable.

It didn't take much for her to come violently into the water, especially since Aaron had joined in by kissing the side of her neck and concentrating on the upper portion of her body, while Dave had gone lower and was holding his breath so he could suck on her thighs.

By the time he resurfaced it seemed like it had been forever, but really it hadn't been more than a couple of minutes.

"Wow! I've never had such a strong climax build so fast," JJ said blinking dazedly.

"That's because your body and your soul know that we belong together," Aaron told her calmly, although both he and Dave had also climaxed into the their swim trunks.

"It also has to do with our emotions. We love you and you love us and that has a lot to do with why your body responded so well," Dave added.

"I don't really care why my body responded like it did," JJ told them smiling rather goofily. "I just want you to do it again, because if this is what you can do without penetration, I can't wait until Henry is born. My body has never responded so strongly."

"We'll be happy to do it again," Aaron said grinning.

"Absolutely and as often as you want," Dave added with a satisfied smirk.

"Which is going to be a lot if I have my way," JJ said. "I'm going to have dozens of kids if you keep up the way you just did."

"Oh, we'll probably have a lot of kids throughout the centuries," Aaron said.

"So do normal contraceptives work when you're immortal?" JJ asked.

"Yes, so we can stop having kids when we don't want anymore right then," Dave said.

"Good," JJ said. "Because while I don't mind being pregnant I don't want to be constantly so. For one thing that would make people question why we're having so many kids, so close together and for another I want time in between pregnancies."

"I say having three or four kids by each of us at one time is plenty," Aaron said.

"Still, 8 kids is a lot," JJ said, "even if they're spaced two or three years apart. "So I would say maybe four kids, two for each of you is plenty."

"Well, considering your 31, that's probably wise," Dave said. "Most women can have children into their late 50s now and come out of it just fine, depending on how sexually active they are, so I would think maybe two or three kids apiece is plenty."

"We'll work out the details later," JJ said. "But I think six kids this time around until we move someplace new is doable, probably seven if you include Henry."

"What do you think about us adopting Henry immediately after he's born?" Aaron asked.

"He'll be our firstborn son," Dave said.

"I think that's an excellent idea," JJ said beaming at them. "I already know that you'll treat him like your own son considering how excited you are waiting for his birth."

"Do you know who the father is?" Aaron asked.

"Yes, I do," JJ admitted. "He doesn't know about Henry though, as we broke up before I told him I was pregnant so I figure it's his loss, you know?"

"You could put one of us as the father on the birth certificate instead of who the actual father was," Dave suggested. "His actual father won't matter, as we have every intention of adopting him."

"If one of you is listed as a father on the birth certificate you won't need to adopt him, though the other certainly could," JJ said.

"She does have a point, Dave," Aaron said. "Of course, you can go to prison for forgery you know, all of us could if we do so then it's found out."

"Well, since we are intending to treat Henry as our son and marrying Jennifer, I don't see the problem really," Dave said. "Putting the wrong father on the birth certificate is never caught unless of course, someone feels guilty about it and reports it or a paternity test is done for whatever reason. It's really the perfect crime."

"We are not hurting anybody," JJ concluded, "and so I would like to put one of you as a father of Henry."

Dave and Aaron exchanged looks and then Aaron said, "I'll take the honor this time, which means that next time you get pregnant it will be by Dave. Henry will be my son from the moment he is born as I already love him so much, even though I know that technically, he isn't really mine."

"Paternity doesn't really matter," JJ told Aaron kissing him tenderly. "You will be his father whether or not you share the same blood and I firmly believe you and Dave will make much better parents then the guy that got me pregnant in the first place, which should be all that matters to anyone."

"Well, good then that's decided," Dave said grinning hugely. "Henry will be Aaron's son from the moment of his birth, but he'll likely figure out the truth, because he won't be immortal like any child that the three of us have together will."

"You know I hadn't considered that," JJ said smiling. "Is there a way to turn him immortal when he's old enough to make his decision? Well, other then sex."

"There is," Aaron said.

"So how's it done?" JJ asked.

Dave and Aaron took turns explaining how to turn someone immortal that didn't involve sex between consenting adults.

"Well, that sounds rather… gross," JJ decided. "I think I prefer the other method."

"I don't blame you," Dave said, as he took JJ into his arms, "but really it's no different than getting a blood transfusion, except I know that's done through needles and tubes. Still, the concept is basically the same."

"I hadn't thought of it like that, but you're right," JJ said. "It will be Henry's decision once he's old enough to make them, like maybe 12 or 13, which is over a decade away so there's no point worrying about it right now."

"No one ever claimed that turning someone immortal was easy," Aaron said. "If Henry isn't willing to be a little grossed out well then he doesn't have to accept our offer."

"Yes, I know, but what teenage boy wouldn't want to be immortal?" JJ giggled.

"We'll have see how it goes," Dave said. "I'm not about to turn someone who gets into a lot of trouble immortal. He'll have to prove himself trustworthy, able to keep a secret before we tell him about immortals at all."

"Even if he did spout off about immortals no one would believe him," JJ said.

"Probably not, but you never know if somebody listening does believe it and causes a whole bunch of trouble," Aaron said. "There are people out there that believe in unusual things, although I admit most of them aren't troublemakers."

"It's just better if immortals, kind of slide through society and live quietly," Dave explained. "You never really know what people will believe, so if someone believes that they could get immortality..."

"You have no idea what they could do in order to obtain it," Aaron finished. "Human beings can be greedy evil, arrogant, stupid, lazy and a lot of them are looking for the easy way through life, which is what some of them will believe immortality will grant them."

"But really we live pretty normally and do things that everybody does," Dave said.

"You don't have jobs though," JJ pointed out.

"We could though," Dave shrugged.

"And have had in the past," Aaron added.

"We have nothing against working hard, but we're not going to have a regular job just so people believe that's where we get our money, because unlike most of the population we don't have need to work for monetary reasons," Dave said.

"Unlike so many rich young men we don't brag about our wealth," Aaron said.

"And we certainly don't bludgeon others into doing what we want using it," Dave added. "I won't say that we don't have some of the finer things in life, because we do, but still, we use our wealth pretty subtly."

"People believe that we're in some kind of business that doesn't require us to leave home and we just never bothered to correct those impressions," Aaron added.

"We don't act all arrogant like a lot of rich people do to those they consider beneath them, especially those that inherit their wealth," Dave said. "Really, that's the problem with inherited wealth, as young people a lot of times have a sense of entitlement, basically because they weren't raised with firm rules for bad behavior."

"Also they tend be spoiled to the point that they believe it's their right to get whatever they want no matter how it's obtained and many don't care if they get it through illegal means," Aaron added.

"Sometimes the parents take a firm hand, teach their kids right from wrong, punish them when it's necessary, but a lot of times they're left in the care of a nanny, though I suppose au pair is the term for those who are rich," Dave said

"A lot of times the nanny or au pair is afraid to discipline them and lets them get away with way too much, because they're afraid of being fired," Aaron said.

"Well, you do hear rumors," JJ said, "though I've never met anyone one who uses their money like that or is all arrogant."

"Aaron and I have met our share of young people like that, sometimes even older adults," Dave shrugged. "Of course, it doesn't happen to every young man or woman that inherits their wealth, as a lot of them are quite nice and well grounded. But people like that tend put their children in boarding school when they're old enough so they don't spend much time at home."

"This doesn't always happen depending on what the parents are like and if they really love their kids, but still, it happens far too often," Aaron said.

"Those kind of people with money also tend to pay off other people whenever they're kid gets in trouble instead of letting them take responsibility for their own actions which just reenforces the impression that they can get anything they want by any means necessary," Dave said.  
"Which would force them to grow up," JJ realized.

"Probably," Dave shrugged. "Most of the time it works, because those people are intelligent enough to realize that if they keep down the road their on they'll be even more serious trouble, maybe even landing in prison and that their money won't always get them out of trouble."

"Of course, you can't save everyone, because some refuse to change their ways and those kind of people usually end up with long prison terms if their never caught, as eventually they won't be able to bribe someone to cover up what they did," Aaron added.

"Or their parents come to their senses and realize that they've raised spoiled rotten brats at the very least," Dave said. "None of our kids will be raised like that and if they act like spoiled rotten brats, well, they won't get their inheritance. I'm not going to give somebody who makes demands and acts all spoiled a lot of money, as that would just exacerbate that arrogance."

"We'll teach our kids right from wrong," JJ said.

"Of course, we will but that doesn't mean they'll turnout okay," Aaron told her. "It's been proven that some children raised in good homes still turn out full of themselves or even into criminals both major and minor ones. I'm not saying that will happen to any of our kids, because it probably won't, just that it's been known to."

"Sometimes something's just broken inside when they are born," Dave said. "Some are born with the lack of conscious and that's how they turn into serial killers."

"Or at least uncaring of other people's feelings," Aaron added

"I think it's time we head inside, wash off this choline," Aaron said. "Perhaps over the weekend you can move out of your apartment and move in here."

"That's a good idea," JJ said. "I'm practically living here anyway, so I might as well move the rest of my things over."

"So what kind of wedding do you want?" Dave asked. "Something big? Small?"

"Probably something in between," JJ said. "I have a lot of people I want to invite and I'm sure you do too."

"Yeah, that's true as we know a lot of people," Aaron smiled.

"So what about 100 people?" JJ asked.

"Probably closer to 300," Dave said.

"Wow! That's a lot!" JJ whistled appreciatively.

"So between us we know a lot of people," Dave said shrugged causally.

"And we don't want to offend anyone if they don't get invited as we might need a favor from them later," Aaron added.

"It doesn't do to offend people by not inviting them to such an important event," Dave said.

The three of them climbed out of the pool, having long since recovered from their climaxes.

"We'll help you move all your stuff over here," Aaron said. "It will probably take all weekend."

"We can hire a moving company," Dave said. "Let them do the work, as that's what they're trained to do. Jennifer doesn't need to be straining herself right now anyway not with that bun in the oven."

"So we'll hire a moving company as that's more practical than trying to do it ourselves," JJ said.

The three discussed it on the way back to the house to take showers and decided to take a shower together, as there was plenty of room. The shower was big enough for at least four people and had all kinds of jets to give you the kind of shower you wanted and it was also operated by voice command and you could raise or lower the temperature of the water using it among other things.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~


	5. Chapter 5

Part 5

"Dave and I have a little gift for you," Aaron told JJ, bringing forth a jewelry box.

It was a few days after the birth of Henry Aaron Rossi, as Aaron had taken Dave's last name, when they had gotten married dropping his original one of Hotchner.

JJ didn't bother to protest, because she knew that these two men enjoyed spoiling her rotten. Besides, secretly she liked receiving gifts no matter how cheap or expensive as it showed that that person cared. JJ was all moved into the big house that was more than fifty thousand square feet and had 25 bedrooms, 7 large full bathrooms, a very modern kitchen and had been updated to where they had every available amenity. It was a bit large for just two men, but since Dave had bought it a couple hundred years ago they had decided against moving into somewhere smaller. It was more of a mansion then a ordinary house, but since it was in such good condition it had never been torn down. Besides, the taxes were paid promptly, so even though it had been unoccupied for a long time it couldn't be torn down. There was also a gymnasium that Dave had had put in with every piece of available exercise equipment. He even had one of those machines that made you believe that you were running along New York streets as the imagery was first rate, so that was hard to tell that it was just a hologram. The machine could be programmed to give you any location in the world.

"This is kind of a welcome to our family and also to celebrate the birth of Henry," Dave told her.

JJ took the box and opened and inside was a beautiful bracelet. The bracelet was rubies shaped like hearts and there was also a nameplate, that had her name in cursive along with Dave's and Aaron with miniature hearts in between the names. That was probably half a dozen ruby hearts all along the bracelet. JJ well knew that this must've been thousands of dollars, especially since the box came from Tiffany's, but she wasn't about to say anything as she knew that both Aaron and Dave could more than afford it.

"It's beautiful," JJ said that she just both of them in thanks.

"We're glad you think so," Aaron said pleased.

"This is just the first gift," Dave added with a mischievous grin. "Both Aaron and I intended to spoil you rotten."

"Well, you're doing a good job," JJ laughed. "I'm so looking forward to our wedding in a few weeks."

"So are we," Aaron said, grinning hugely.

"Definitely," Dave said. "You'll be bound to us for eternity once we tie the knot, even if no one knows it, except for us."

"Now, that's a very pleasant thought," JJ laughed. "Ceremony or not I'm already bound to you, even though we haven't had full-blown sex yet. But if what you did to me without penetration is any indication I'm definitely going to enjoy what you do to me with it."

"You will and just as soon as the doctor clears you, we'll keep you in bed for days," Aaron said, grinning at the thought.

"It shouldn't be long, a couple weeks or so," JJ said. "The labor was long and intense, but that's normal for a first baby, but still, it went well and the doctor said there were no problems."

"So another week and a half maybe," Dave said his dark eyes gleaming in anticipation.

"We'll see what the doctor says," JJ said. "However, I should recover much faster then a couple of hundred years ago because of all the new technology. You know we have machines now that will help you heal faster."

"You're also young and healthy which helps," Dave said.

"I suspect that at my next appointment in a few days she'll probably give me a clean bill of health, but we'll see," JJ said

"Well, when she does be prepared to make love all night," Aaron told JJ smiling at the thought. Actually, it was more of a shit eating grin.

"I'm looking forward to it," JJ told them both sincerely. "The things you did to my body without penetrating me once should be considered illegal, as I've had my strongest climaxes to date. I suspect that they'll be even stronger once you're allowed to penetrate me."

"That's a good bet," Dave said looking smug. "Having sex on a regular basis will start to turn you immortal quickly and since there are two of us that will be making love to you it will happen faster. I suspect in six months or so you'll be just like we are."

"And after you are we are planning on immediately getting you pregnant," Aaron grinned.

"I would like to wait at least a year or so before I get pregnant again," JJ requested.

"You don't have to worry about much recovery time once you're immortal," Dave told her.

"People will talk though," JJ pointed out.

"So let them," Aaron suggested. "There're two of us, so of course, we each want a child by you and yes, I'm aware Henry's not mine by blood, but that doesn't matter, as I'll have my chance in another year or two. Besides, in groups like ours the children often aren't more then a year or so apart, sometimes only months, though I realize that there's usually more then one woman involved when that happens."

"Yeah, I guess that's a good point. We can't afford to wait any longer than a year or a year and a half in between pregnancies, since I'm nearly 32 and we discussed having at least four children," JJ said. "I know I'll soon be immortal, so I don't have to worry about getting to old to have children, but still, appearances are important."

"Most people won't pay attention and if they do open their mouth to say something negative about having our children, so close together, I know how to put them down with a few words," Dave shrugged. "They might be curious why we're having so many children, so close together since the norm is two, possibly three, but that's in normal couple marriages and doesn't apply to three people or more. So long as they mind their own business we'll mind ours."

"I doubt anybody will even notice, as you don't live in a neighborhood where people are naturally nosy," JJ said. "No, people mostly mind their own business here and that's the way I like it."

"You're right, but we need to be prepared just in case, as some people love to express their opinions whether or not it was asked for or wanted," Aaron said.

"You're right," JJ agreed. "We could probably manage six or so before I reach my late 40s, if we don't wait more than a year, a year and a half or so between pregnancies, as I suggested a few minutes ago."

"Well, that'll be seven with Henry," Dave grinned excited at having so many children running around, as he had always been careful to never have children before he met Aaron and since he was male having children hadn't been possible, not until they had met JJ anyway.

"Thank you, for the bracelet it's a gorgeous," JJ said sincerely. "I'll treasure it."

"We're certainly glad you like it," Aaron said smiling.

"I'd have to be crazy not to," JJ chuckled. "It's a gorgeous piece of jewelry and it demonstrates that you both have good taste, which is good to know that I won't have to return whatever you give me because it's hideous."

"Tiffany would never sell anything hideous," Dave said and JJ had to agree, as the store had been in business for almost 500 years and they wouldn't have been if they didn't sell gorgeous things, even if they were expensive.

"No, they wouldn't," JJ said out loud. "They would've gone out of business a long time ago if that was their reputation, because no one would want to buy from them."

"Very true," Dave said.

"So are you ever going to tell me that story about the past you mentioned while I was still pregnant a few months back?" JJ asked Aaron after a few minutes of contented silence.

"I wondered if you would ask," Aaron said his tone calm, though he had butterflies in his stomach. "If you really want to know I'll tell you, just as I promised."

"We might as we'll be comfortable, as it's a long tale and certain parts of it aren't very pleasant," Dave said.

"Perhaps, we had better go check on Henry first before we get started," Aaron suggested, wanting to delay telling JJ about his childhood.

"Henry is just fine being looked after by the nanny you hired before he was born," JJ said gently. She could tell Aaron was nervous, so she cuddled into his side on the couch in the very nicely appointed living room. The furniture while expensive was also very comfortable, as it wasn't there just for show. She knew that neither Dave or Aaron believed in buying things just to impress their neighbors and it made her love them all the more for it, as they weren't ones for being pretentious. No, whatever they did, they did for themselves, for enjoyment or because they wanted to, not because they were trying to impress others. The two men actually lived pretty quietly.

"I was born Aaron Hotchner," Aaron began, appreciating the fact that JJ was curled into one side and Dave held his hand on the other, both for support he knew. Dave was the only one that knew the whole story, but JJ was about to and hopefully, she wouldn't reject him afterwards like he knew so many people would when they learned he had such a sordid past, mostly because that was just human nature. Aaron didn't believe JJ would do that, as she was a compassionate, understanding person, which so many people were not, but he couldn't help but fear that she would as so many people wouldn't want to deal with the baggage he came with.

Aaron told JJ all about what had happened when he'd been a child, about the rape at least once every few days particularly after he'd hit 11, where before he was only raped once a week or so. He talked about how like an angel Dave had rescued him when he was 14, causing Dave to snort at the description, but he didn't interrupt. He talked about how close he and Dave had gotten once the two of them had fled to Sweden, about how they had traveled to various countries learning their histories and about Dave's generosity, his offer to send him to college to perhaps, find a lady he could settle down with. He told her about how he'd made the decision to stay with Dave and how they finally finalized the bond between them on his 18th birthday, which was his decision, Aaron promised.

"Dave was all prepared to let me live my life the way I wanted, even though it would've caused him unbearable agony," Aaron said. "I knew however, that I had fallen in love with him, because as you know the pull between soulmates is incredibly strong. That wasn't the only reason of course, though it was a factor, it was because Dave was generous, kind and compassionate, traits my father didn't possess. As I got older it was hard for him to think of me as a son or a nephew, as I was growing up, but he didn't mention his growing attraction to me. However, I saw the look on his face a few times when he didn't realize I was watching and it was then I knew that I did love him. It was me that finally had to tell him of my feelings, as I knew that Dave was to much of a gentleman to make the first move, which I did on my 18th birthday. We've been together ever since."

"Aaron always was incredibly mature for his age and that was partly due to his experiences, but also I suspect he was always more serious and strong minded then most other young people who take years to develop that kind of thing, if they ever do," Dave added. "He never would have survived so well if he hadn't been, as a lot of others would have shut everybody else out or never trusted anyone enough to actually tie the knot or even gone to some secret place in their own minds, never to emerge again."

"What I've just heard is terrible," JJ said, as calmly as she could, although she wanted to bring the father back to life only to kill him again, though she was well aware that was impossible. "I'm really sorry that happened to you and especially that your own father was the one that violated his son in such a way. I'm surprised, you didn't just kill yourself or at the very least never trust anyone enough to be intimate with them."

"It helped that Dave truly understood what I had been through and supported me all the way. He insisted I see a psychologist, although I just wanted to just bury it, but he warned me of the terrible nightmares I would likely experience if I did that," Aaron said.

"Even if he didn't get nightmares as a way to force him to deal with his trauma, it would have just popped up again at some point, like if we encountered another child that had been abused in that way for example. It was better to deal with it, right away, instead of letting the subconscious make it worse or having him react with violence on whoever had raped a child if the situation had ever arisen. Aaron could have killed someone who had done that without meaning to for he is in peak physical condition and knows how to deliver a punch. The person he beat up might not have been or could have some sort of medical problem that would see the person dead if hit them just right," Dave calmly explained.

"Either that or been arrested for assault," JJ said and both Aaron and Dave nodded.

"Which was something I considered I promise you and one of the reasons I insisted he see a psychologist," Dave said.

"I didn't want to, but then what 14 old wants to see a doctor, as that would be admitting that he was having problems and also telling them about the abuse that he had endured, not something any teenager wants to do. Dave can be stubborn though, so he convinced me to give it a try, saying that I didn't need to be ashamed for what happened, because I was a child," Aaron said.

"Oh, yes, I understand that mindset very well," JJ snorted. "I never wanted to go to my parents with any major problems or even for minor ones, as I wanted to be to solve them myself, though I was never abused the way you were. I'm just glad that you got over what happened to you and turned into the good man I know and love."

Aaron slumped in relief at JJ's words.

"We're you really that worried that I wouldn't understand, that I would abandon the man I love, the man who's name is on my son's birth certificate?" JJ asked, having seen Aaron slump in relief.

"A lot of people would have," Dave told her giving Aaron a chance to get himself back under control. "They wouldn't want to deal with all the baggage that he came with and would have likely been thinking that somehow a 7 or 8 year old had deserved it. Even if they didn't think that and were genuinely horrified most people still wouldn't want to deal with someone who had been through such an experience, even though they were over it for the most part. A lot of people just don't want to deal with someone else's problems when they have their own, probably because it would make them acknowledge that there is genuine evil or at cruelty in the world and a lot of people would rather not have that kind of knowledge."

"Well, I'm not one of them. If I abandoned you I would have to abandon both of you as I'm well aware that you come as a package deal and I love you to much to do that," JJ said. "I freely admit however, that a lot of people can be idiots or at least very shallow."

"Thank you," Aaron said softly, as the kissed the top of JJ's head, enjoying the softness, not to mention the fresh scent of her hair as it smelled like strawberries and cream.

"Yes, thank you," Dave repeated, as he kissed the side of her neck.

"There's no need to thank me, because I love you both. You helped Aaron get over his abuse and I'm well aware that a lot of people never do, so you deserve a lot of credit," JJ told Dave. "Aaron might've gotten over his abuse without your help but the odds would have been even more against him then they were."

"So you don't think Dave took advantage of me," Aaron asked in a lighthearted tone, seeming to have recovered from his anxiety of earlier.

"No," JJ said shaking her head. "He did everything he could to help you get over what you had endured. Personally, considering I know from personal experience how strong the bond is between Immortals and their mates, I think Dave did very well. Dave waited until you were of legal age to make love to you for the first time and he also let you make your own decision on that. I know a lot of people would've said that he took advantage of you considering he looked thirty and you were only 18, but still, you were of legal age and you were certainly mature enough to make your own decision, because of your experiences. You were considerably more mature then most others your age certainly. You weren't naïve or innocent in other words, as your father took care of that."

"We kept our relationship quiet for about six years," Dave said, "as I didn't want rumors to start that said I was taking advantage of my ward. We also moved to where no one knew us just as soon as we agreed that Aaron was old enough to be involved with me openly."

"Yeah, I hated keeping our relationship quiet for six years, but I did agree that we didn't need rumors about us to start, but I would have preferred to date Dave openly instead of secretly," Aaron said. "Both Dave and I knew it wouldn't've mattered to people that I was more mature than my 18 years, as I often felt like I was at least 30, due to my life experiences."

"Appearances are what counts to most people as I well know," Dave said. "If Aaron hadn't told me his feelings and about the fact that he had fallen in love with me I would have waited until he was either ready or he decided not to start a relationship with me. I didn't take into account that he was way more mature than his years would indicate, mostly because of his abusive childhood as that kind of thing makes you grow up fast mentally and emotionally at least. I did feel guilty for him not experiencing more of life, you know going to college, hanging out with friends, kissing someone for the first time whether male or female, that kind of thing before we met and got together. However, as Aaron pointed out at the time it was his decision and I hadn't forced him into anything."

"And he didn't. He gave me every opportunity to go off on my own, but I knew deep down that I wouldn't be happy without Dave in my life and it wasn't a matter of gratitude for being rescued. Oh, sure, there was some of that as a 14 year old boy, but that faded fairly quickly. I quickly realized that Dave was rather uncomfortable with my gratitude, as to him he had simply done what he considered the right thing," Aaron said smiling, as he remembered.

"I would have rescued him earlier if only I had known what had occurred," Dave said.

"So how did you find out?" JJ asked choked full of curiosity.

"Well originally I was going to settle down in the area, make sure that Aaron was familiar with me, perhaps become friends with him. My original plan was for him to be familiar with my face and feel the undeniable attraction that is the indication of the bond between immortals and their mates. I thought perhaps, that we could call and email when he went to college, if we had become good enough friends by that point. I was going to wait until he graduated whether that was at 22 or later depending on what profession he had decided on and then I was going to bring the subject up. Of course, I was also well aware that he might reject me and I was prepared for that to happen. Once I arrived in town I just couldn't resist surveying the house, imagining Aaron's childhood as I never thought it would be anything but happy. It never occurred to me that his parents might not care for him or that the father would abuse his own son in such a way. I knew such people existed, but it just never occurred to me that my mate's parents could be that way and I'm aware that it should have."

"Why should it have?" JJ asked. "I mean a lot of people love their children and treat them well and though child abuse does exist you really don't run across it to often, as that type of thing is often kept a deep dark secret."

"Still, it's not like I was a young man when I first discovered Aaron when he was three, nor was I naïve," Dave said. "I was well aware that while humans could be kind, loving, compassionate and generous that they could be the exact opposite, even towards their own children and yet it never occurred to me that and his parents could be anything but loving and compassionate to their own child."

"You can't think of everything," Aaron told Dave quietly. "I never blamed you for what happened, because you had no way of knowing that my childhood was anything but normal and happy. Besides, you did everything you could to help me get over the trauma of what went on for seven or eight years of my life, even though I resisted your efforts a lot of times."

"Stubborn," Dave said fondly.

"Maybe I am," Aaron snorted, "but if I am, you're doubly stubborn. You got me to give in, to see a psychologist despite my best efforts to resist the idea and I finally gave in, because I knew you wouldn't give up until I agreed to at least one appointment. I know now that you were right, but at the time I didn't see the point."

"You were still young, no matter how mature," Dave said. "You really didn't have any experience with the side effects of such trauma, so I understood your stubbornness. I was sure that those efforts would show up in some form, at some point, whether that was nightmares or when you encountered a child that had also been abused in that way. Dealing with the trauma you had endured after years of abuse as soon as possible was really the best option, even if I know you didn't agree with me at the time. I understood that you were still a child after all, no matter how mature and you hadn't seen the things I had. Trauma can still affect you even if it's dealt with in a prompt manner. It could make you have more compassion for others for example or it could turn you into someone exactly like the persons who abused you. For that to happen that usually means that you never had the support you needed to get over it, even if you never saw a psychologist. I'm well aware that many people don't see the need to go to one no matter what they've been through, but they're also mostly not aware what trauma can do to the psyche, depending on personality and any other number factors."

"Why did you never inform the cops, or a teacher or another adult?" JJ asked.

"Because my father was a powerful man and he either would've threatened them into silence or paid them off," Aaron explained. "He was a lawyer and he had the power to threaten or bribe them and then my treatment would've been far worse. My mother was no help, because she knew that while my father was abusing me he left her alone, so I don't have one ounce of familiar feeling for either of my parents. I suspect that she was also afraid of him, but she was stuck, as she wouldn't have dared to try to get a divorce, not even if she had thought of it. I doubt my father would have gone for it and would have likely squashed any such attempts, which shouldn't happen in this century I know, but it does."

"Well, you sure did have rotten luck in the parents department," JJ said truly sympathetic.

"I know, but I've gotten over what happened to me, which you know is thanks to Dave," Aaron said smiling at his mate tenderly and Dave smiled back, though he said nothing. "I haven't thought about either of my parents very much in years, as I've been too happy to brood and I'll be even happier now that you have decided to join Dave and I. There's no point of dwelling on the past and what might have been, as it only upsets me and makes me angry. I've accepted that both my parents never should have gotten married, arranged or not or at least never had children. My father died the night that Dave rescued me and my mother died about 30 years later and I hope sincerely that my father at least is rotting in hell."

"I for one can't blame you for that opinion," Dave who had been mostly silent chipped in.

"No, neither can I," JJ said. "Normally, I'm the nicest person out there, but what happened to you never should have occurred. Events like that shouldn't happen anymore, not in this century of so many opportunities and wonders."

"Human nature will always be human nature," Dave said philosophically. "A lot can be done to put those that deserve to go to prison behind bars, but there is no way to change basic human nature. The only way to control any sentient species is to basically control their every action with severe consequences for not doing so. In other words, take away their freedom of choice and that is something that I would personally oppose if it happened," Dave said.

"As would I," Aaron agreed.

"Any sensible person would," JJ agreed with that wholeheartedly.

"Except for those who would take great delight in controlling everybody and killing anyone who didn't obey," Dave said.

All three of them shuddered at that possibility.

"I say we change the subject to something more pleasant," Aaron suggested with a smile. "You heard my life story from the beginning, so I think that's enough for you to dwell on for awhile. Don't let what happened to me make you view everyone with suspicion, because a lot of people are good or at least decent and who simply live their lives as best they can. Not everybody is the same after all, because life would be rather boring if people were."

"There's nothing wrong with being a little cautious, but still, don't let what Aaron has told you make you to cynical as that's no way to live life," Dave said.

"You'll learn to tell when people are being honest with you, as well as dishonest and everything in between those to extremes as, we'll teach you everything we know about human nature," said Aaron.

"I won't," JJ promised.

"Good, because you're a good person and you don't need to let such a sordid, but true story sour you to people in general, as that's no way to live," Dave said.

"Especially not for someone who will live basically forever barring any serious accidents," said Aaron. "Life is hard enough in general, not to mention it can be tedious, so there's no reason to be against the human species entirely, as there will always be heroes and villains and just ordinary people trying to live their lives with honesty and integrity."

"Honesty, integrity and fairness are three things I insist on in my relationship with Aaron as it prevents a lot of misunderstandings," Dave added.

"That's a very profound," JJ told Aaron then turned to Dave. "And I happen to agree with you that honesty, integrity and fairness should be the cornerstone of any relationship, as it would likely prevent a lot of arguments at least."

"It has," Aaron assured JJ smiling. "It helps a lot that I know I can trust Dave to be honest with me and also that cheating isn't possible because of the bond between us, which will apply to you as well just as soon as you're fully immortal. And by the way, I can be profound," Aaron said pretending to be insulted then smiled again. "It comes from living for over 50 years. Really you can't be alive and not learn things, so that you mature and change as the years go by."

"That's true, as I've certainly changed a lot from when I was a teenager and then in my early twenties," JJ said.

"You'll never have to worry about either one of us cheating on you for example," Dave said

"That's good to know," JJ said. "Not that I doubted that you would be loyal because you're not the type to cheat, even if the bond didn't prevent it."

"No, we are not," Dave agreed.

"I think we need to go do something fun for awhile. Put this serious conversation to the back of your mind at least, although I would prefer if you just forgot about it. I decided a few decades ago not to let what I experience as a child affect how I lived my life," Aaron said.

"You've done a very good job of it as far as I can see," JJ said.

"How could I not when I had the support of someone I love very much?" Aaron asked. rhetorically. "Dave would never stand for me falling into a depression and would be determined to pull me back out again. Besides, I'm not really the type to do that sort of thing and there's been no reason for me to, because my life has been good, great really, ever since I was 14. The past needs to stay where it is, in the past. I only told you, because you had every right to know since you're our mate and you agreed to join us."

"You're right," JJ agreed, but she did snuggle a little bit more tightly into Aaron side and Aaron certainly appreciated the gesture and her warmth.

"Well, now that that's settled why don't we go do something fun for awhile as Aaron suggested and it doesn't matter what that is," Dave said. "We do get married in just three weeks and I can hardly wait."

"I can hardly wait for our wedding either and besides, I'm eagerly anticipating our wedding night, even if I'm sure that we'll be making love with full penetration before that date. Still, I'm anticipating what you can do to me once the doctor's sure I've recovered from the birth of our son."

JJ always made sure to say our son whenever she talked about Henry to make sure that both her soon to be husbands knew that she truly thought of them as the fathers. She never wanted them to doubt that she considered them Henry's fathers in every way that really mattered.

"So are we," Dave assured her grinning at the thought. "I know our relationship has gotten off to a rather unusual start, since most men would never have accepted another man's child, especially an infant, but Aaron and I don't have a problem with it. Neither Aaron or I can wait to make true love to you instead of the heavy petting we've been doing, no matter how pleasurable, but we didn't want to risk you or Henry in anyway."

"I know that and I accepted your reasons as valid," JJ said. "That you were so concerned about me and about a baby that wasn't yours just tells me that you are good men. Now let's go and do something fun and just forget for awhile."

Aaron and Dave agreed, since it had been Aaron's suggestion originally and all tried to decide on what to do for a few hours.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

"Ready?" Dave asked JJ softly.

"More than ready," promised JJ. "You know I've been waiting for this moment for months now. Henry is asleep and the nanny will look after him. This night is just for the three of us, as much as I love my son."

"Well then," Dave said grinning hugely, even as he began to strip JJ of her clothes. Aaron watched smiling, as Dave almost reverently took off JJ's clothes for the first time. This was going to be a night to remember, Aaron decided, as this would be the first time that the three of them had full blown sex, instead of just the heavy petting and sleeping together they had been doing over the last few months.

The doctor had cleared JJ to resume her sex life and it had only been a week since the birth of Henry, so thank god for the recent advancements in medical technology, as it would have been considerably longer otherwise.

Once JJ was fully undressed, Dave picked her up easily and laid her gently on the already turned down bed.

JJ for her part spread her legs as wide as she was comfortable with to give her soon to be new husband easier access to her vagina.

"Excellent! You are already wet, so you need no preparation," Dave growled possessively.

Aaron for his part laid down on the other side of JJ and began to tenderly run a hand though her long blond hair, as he had every intention of participating, even if this was Dave's show tonight.

"I'm nearly always wet, as all you or Aaron have to do is smile at me and I have that reaction," JJ told Dave her voice low and throaty, but sincere.

"Well, that's nice to know," Dave grinned. "I intend to take full advantage of it and Aaron will get his turn after me. We aren't trying to get you pregnant tonight, as that needs to wait until you are immortal."

"Go right ahead, I'm on the pill and I made sure I started right after Henry's birth, so there is no chance of getting me pregnant until I stop taking them," JJ said in eager anticipation.

"Well, that's one worry out of the way," Aaron said speaking for the first time.

Aaron knew Dave had been worried that he would have problems making love with JJ, due to his traumatic childhood, but so far he hadn't. Besides he figured if he didn't have any trouble making love to Dave then he shouldn't have any making love to a woman, much less one as nice as JJ was, since she was his mate as well. Of course, there also hadn't been any sort of penetration of JJ's body yet and so he hoped that he would have no problems. He really didn't believe he would considering how he got an erection every time JJ just looked at him in a certain way, but he would see.

Aaron watched, as Dave gently and tenderly made love to JJ for the first time, after he shoved his cock into her body with no foreplay and released himself into her. It was only after his painful erection had been released that Dave started to take his time exploring JJ's body.

Of course, both men had already explored JJ's body together and also separately so that they both knew every inch. Knew where she was the most sensitive to their touch and Dave used every single bit of what he had learned to bring JJ to a earthshattering climax for a second time quickly.

"Wow!" JJ said still panting a little, even though she had mostly recovered from a extremely strong climax. "I thought what you did to me without actually penetrating me was out of this world, but you just knocked what I thought I knew out of the water."

"Good," Dave growled still feeling rather possessive. "With us making love all night you should quickly turn immortal just like Aaron and I. I would estimate six months or so although we'll have to check before I get you pregnant."

"So how do you check something like that?" JJ asked curiously.

"All you really have to do slash the pad of your thumb or some other digit and if it heals immediately then you are immortal like Dave and I," Aaron said smiling. "You see, simple."

"Yes, I suppose it is," JJ laughed, as she picked up her head just enough to kiss Dave very passionately on the lips, a kiss that was returned with equal passion.

"I just wanted you to both know that I love you. It was the happiest day of my life when I met Aaron in that computer store and then both of you in the History Museum," JJ said.

"I was rather shocked when Aaron came home and told me about the attraction he felt for you," Dave said. "I was immediately eager to meet you, so I'm glad that we ran into you again."

"What would you have done if you hadn't?" JJ asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Probably hired a private detective to track you down since we had your full name. Chicago has millions of people that's true, but Jareau is not that common a last name. I would be very surprised to discover that there were more than a few Jareaus in the whole of Chicago and even more astonished if more than one of them was named Jennifer," Dave told her. "Your surname is not like Smith or Jones, which are two of the most common family names here in the USA or even my own, because Rossi is very common in Italy and also in certain parts of the States."

"Well, I'm not sure if I would've taken you hiring a private detective very well, so I'm glad you didn't have to," JJ said.

"So am I," Dave grinned, as he started to make love to her again.

Aaron watched this smiling the whole time and then joined Dave in making love to JJ by using his hands and his lips on her body while Dave's lips were busy elsewhere. The two men made love to JJ slowly and tenderly until she was nothing but a puddle of goo and by the time Aaron entered her this time she was more than ready for him. Dave watched this and was glad to see that Aaron wasn't having any problems with getting his penis to come erect, so apparently his worries were unfounded and he was glad.

Sometime later, they fell asleep all three of them curled together with JJ firmly in the middle with both Aaron's and Dave's arms across her stomach as if protecting her.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~


	6. Chapter 6

Part 6

"This is grand," JJ said grinning ecstatically, holding up a pregnancy test to her two favorite men on the planet.

"Pregnant!" Dave crowed excitedly

It was less than a year later, only seven months since Henry's birth. It was actually pretty amazing that JJ was pregnant already, because she had only been immortal for three months, as it had only taken four months to turn her immortal thanks to both Aaron and Dave making love to her as frequently as time allowed.

"Yep," JJ grinned happily. "The only thing is that I've just lost all the weight from being pregnant with Henry, so it looks like I'll be gaining another 35 or 40 pounds."

"It's worth it though," Aaron said.

"Yeah, it is," JJ agreed. "I'm really happy about this, even if I'm not very happy about gaining back the weight I just lost."

"Who would be?" Dave asked rhetorically. "The thing is though, since you started using the exercise equipment that Aaron and I have bought over the years we've lived in Chicago, well, it shouldn't be too hard for you to lose that weight."

"No, it shouldn't," JJ agreed. "I was signed up to a gym, but exercising at home is just much simpler, you know? Why not use the equipment since you have it anyway and it saves the expense of a membership to a gym."

"We are not worried about the expense," Aaron told her.

"I know that," JJ said. "All I meant was that it's convenient to have a gym right here at the house, one with all the exercise equipment that only some of the most exclusive gyms out there have. Why waste money on a gym membership when there's no need was all I meant."

"Yeah, it is convenient," Dave said. "Aaron and I could sign up to the gym to, but why should we when we have the money to buy top-of-the-line equipment?"

"I know a lot of people think like you do, although I doubt very few homes are outfitted with all the latest equipment in keeping fit."

"I think you're wrong about that," Aaron said, kissing JJ on the lips. "Some people like to keep in shape and yet they don't want the inconvenience of having to go to the gym, well, either that or they like to exercise alone, so they buy their own equipment if they can afford to. The sports industry wouldn't make so many billions of dollars a year if people didn't buy the equipment and all the accessories that goes along with it. Athletic shoes, athletic socks, athletic shorts that type of thing."

"I hadn't thought of it quite like that, but you're right. Let's not forget roller skates, ice skates baseball bats, footballs, hockey sticks, hockey pucks, soccer balls, basketballs, the list goes on and on," JJ added.

"And that's why it's a billion dollar industry," Aaron smiled.

"But back to the subject at hand both Aaron and I are very happy about this pregnancy and it doesn't really matter whose baby it is, although I suspect it's probably mine, but we really don't know do we?" Dave said. "I certainly hope it's mine, but if not I'll have plenty of chances."

"We can have a DNA test done just to see once he or she is born," JJ said.

"So how far along do you think you are?" Aaron asked curiously.

"I can't be more than a few weeks, because I didn't stop taking those pills until about three weeks ago, so I can be anywhere from a week to three weeks," JJ said.

"Well, you're probably not more than a week or so then," Dave said. "The pregnancy tests that they have now are much are more accurate than the ones back in the 20th Century, but then technology improves all the time."

"I'll have to get a doctor's appointment to confirm," JJ said.

"Luckily, I know a few immortal doctors," Dave said, "and I'm sure I can get one to come out here and look after your pregnancy every week. Really, it's not that long a trip from anywhere in the United States not with how fast shuttles are now."

"And that's only if one doesn't live right here in Chicago," Aaron said.

"Why an immortal doctor?" JJ asked. "Why not just a regular mortal one?"

"It's just safer," Dave explained. "I mean what if you have to have a C-section or something? I know that's not likely with just a single baby, but you never know. An immortal doctor knows how to stop you from healing long enough to get the baby out of the incision they made and since they're already immortal we don't have to worry about telling our secret to a total stranger."

"Who might very well not believe us and even if they do they could try to figure out how to get immortality for themselves," Aaron added.

"Or report that immortals exist to the government," Dave said, "even if it's not likely that they'll be believed, but then the world is full of nutcases and they might get someone who does believe them and that could cause a whole bunch of trouble for us."

"The doctor could even just talk about our immortality to the wrong person who turns out to be some kind of fanatic," Aaron added.

"I see," JJ said suddenly understanding.

"There's nothing wrong with being cautious," Aaron said. "Immortals have been keeping themselves secret for thousands of years, although as I'm sure you know there's been a few incidents over the centuries."

"There would have to be," JJ said, "as immortals are technically, human after all, which means they can be ornery and hard to deal with. Not to mention if some humans can't keep a secret I would think the same would be the same for immortals."

"No, some don't know how to keep a secret very well, but luckily, the news that immortals exist is taken with a grain of salt. Most immortals know that keeping their races secret is of the utmost importance, but we do have a few that are extremely careless. Some who drink to much just for example and babble when they're three sheets to the wind," Dave said. "Luckily, plenty of immortals have gone into the medical profession and I happen to have some contacts I can use to get one to come out every week while you're pregnant."

"Well, I would prefer a female if you can get one," JJ said. "I had a female doctor after all, but since I don't need to go in for a yearly check up anymore she probably believes I've moved away."

"I'll see what I can do," Dave promised.

"So how soon will it be before we can tell the sex?" Aaron asked.

"12 weeks," JJ said. "That's what my doctor told me before Henry was born and unfortunately, that hasn't changed in centuries."

"Well, there're some things that progress can't improve upon," Dave shrugged sounding philosophical.

"Still, if she's only a week or two pregnant it's going to be a long time to wait to find that out," Aaron said.

"I'm sure we will find something to do to distract ourselves," Dave grinned. "JJ has her job for one thing and that'll keep her busy for large portions of the day while we look after Henry and give the nanny a break."

"I'm sure she'll appreciate it," JJ said. "She can sleep in sometimes or go do her own thing, shop or whatever, but she sure does come in handy when all three of us are busy," JJ said.

"Which is why I suggested one in the first place," Dave said. "We'll still spend plenty of time with whatever children we have, but Elisa can look after them whenever we want some private time."

"I can't wait to find out the sex," Aaron grinned.

"Neither can I," JJ said. "I'm hoping for girl because we already have a son after all."

"Yes, a girl would be perfect," Dave agreed kissing JJ passionately Aaron following suite.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

"Triplets, are you sure, it's triplets?" JJ asked Zola Vlasco a gorgeous Mexican lady with skin the color of good coffee.

She was a doctor of some renown in immortal circles and had come when her old friend David Rossi had called her. She had told JJ and Aaron that Dave had done her a favor many years ago, so she was indebted to him. She never said what that favor was and JJ knew better than to pry as did Aaron, although both were extremely curious. Still, it wasn't unusual for someone to have a lot of contacts, particularly for someone like Dave who had been around for centuries.

"Yes, I am sure, JJ," Zola told her new friend. She had liked JJ immediately as soon as they had met and the two had gotten along like a house on fire. "I can understand your astonishment however, because even though triplets are more common nowadays then they were hundreds of years ago they're still rather unusual. What you don't know however, is that multiples are more common among immortals, typically those with more than one mate. You, Aaron and Dave make a lot of love likely for several rounds before you finally sleep or get up for the day. There is always a chance of a woman dropping more then one egg, even if that's not the norm depending on age and circumstances, diet and so forth. There is always a window of three days when those eggs are viable, before the quality starts to degrade if they're not identical, which is unlikely. It means that three eggs got fertilized within days of each other or maybe even within hours. As I said this is a lot more common among Immortals unless you're counting in vitro fertilization that so many women go through in order to have families, just because infertility is higher than it should be. This is one major reasons you know that it was finally decided to make polygeny legal, because the infertility was around 40%, several hundred years ago. Of course, it also had a lot to do with the money brought into the community wherever those groups decided to settle. Thanks to this law along with the one that allows you to get married for just a year, five or ten is to see if you're suitable for each other, the fertility rate has risen considerably. Nowadays a lot of people find out they detest each other after they've been married for awhile once the first heat of lust and passion has vanished. Either that or they're just incompatible when they have no children after being married say 10 years."

"I didn't know that," JJ said fascinated.

"Not many people remember it anymore," Zola shrugged. "Now the human population is in no danger of dying off, because someone who's married to more than one person usually produces a number of children, depending on income within the group and how many women there are. Of course, it also depends on how many children those people want sometimes they have five or six, but then the woman gets to old to have anymore safely, which isn't true for you."

"Well, it would have been if I hadn't met Dave and Aaron," JJ said, appreciating having another woman to talk to and she would make sure that she kept in contact with Zola, even when she didn't require her services, since she was surrounded by men. She knew many women envied her for having two such handsome specimens as husbands. JJ wouldn't have agreed if Dave and Aaron didn't basically look after themselves. They did their own laundry, sometimes hers to, though that had been rather embarrassing at first having them wash her unmentionables. Dave did the cooking when she didn't have time or the energy and they were very attentive to her and Henry's needs. They weren't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but they were certainly worlds better than most men who left all the housework to his girlfriend or wife or sometimes a maid or a droid, but then they had been taking care of themselves for a long time before she'd even been born. Still, she could appreciate that they were mostly self-sufficient, often did the grocery shopping and everything else when she was busy with her job or simply to tired to do anything but lie on the couch and watch a little screen.

"But you did meet and that should be all that matters to anyone," Zola said. "I've never seen Dave so happy in all the centuries I've known him and that's because of you, because you're likely carrying his child as well as Aaron's. It's possible that all three of these babies belong to just one of your mates, but it's more likely that one of them is either Dave's or Aaron's."

"Yes, definitely," JJ said blushing a little.

"No, need to be embarrassed or ashamed of discussing such matters with someone who knows," Zola told JJ. "I have two mates myself and I guarantee you that there're no subjects that are off limits."

"So did they mind you coming up here to give me my check up?" JJ asked.

"No, because they both know Dave and that he's an old friend. Besides, I often travel to other cities to help other Immortals out and I'm paid very well for my services, so none of us mind. Really, there aren't that many immortal doctors considering the number of immortals and we're spread all over the world. Still, me and my mates were living in San Francisco and that's only a 1 1/2 hour trip both ways, so I'll be gone overnight at most. Besides, there is no chance of an Immortal that is mated cheating on their spouse or spouses like in my case and since Dave is also mated the same principle applies."

"Well, maybe we can come to you one day instead of you coming to us as that's only common courtesy," JJ said.

"I don't mind and you have a job," Zola said.

"Not on the weekends though, so maybe, we can come on Saturday and leave on Sunday maybe see some of the city while we're there. As you said you can fly most anywhere in the United States in just a few hours depending on distance thanks to the high speed shuttles we have," JJ said.

"Well, that's an idea," Zola said. "Perhaps, you, Dave and Aaron can stay for dinner while I give you your check up, make sure everything is proceeding normally considering it's triplets. I'll also be here to help you deliver and I'll likely have to do a C-section."

"I think that I prefer the C-section considering it's more than one," JJ said, "I already know that it's very unlikely that all three will be facing head down first in order to be born. I remember how long I was in labor with Henry and I'd rather not go through that again so soon especially since it's three."

"If that's what you want then that's what I'll do," Zola agreed. "Dave and Aaron can help me out since I won't be able to do the delivery all by myself and perhaps, one of my daughters who also went into the medical profession. You know that they'll likely have to stay in incubators for awhile as multiples always come early, so I'll be surprised if you can hold out past 30, maybe 32 weeks," Zola said.

"Yes, I'm aware," JJ promised.

"If you can hold out until 32 weeks I'll simply deliver early as that's better than going into labor and thanks to you being immortal you'll heal quickly, so that'll be no need for six or eight weeks of recovery time. Also you'll lose much less blood that way then a natural birth."

"So do you think you can do it here in our home instead of me going into the hospital?" JJ asked. "I'd rather not be stuck in the hospital while the doctors check me out."

"Going to a hospital, with mortal doctors considering you're not mortal anymore is not a good idea. There are clinics for our kind that help with things like birthing babies and they also take a number of regular patients in order to maintain their practices, but really they are for our kind. Most times our clinics are much more modern with the most recent cutting edge technology then the hospitals who has a Board of Directors and a lot of time they're cheapskates and won't buy the newest equipment until they absolutely have to. A lot of mortals aren't very forward thinking when it comes to spending money they want to hold onto."

"Which is very shortsighted," JJ said. "They could be sued for letting someone die, because of outdated equipment instead of buying the newest update."

"So you see the problem," Zola grinned.

"I admit I don't know much about the medical profession but I know at work they can be just as shortsighted, so yes, I understand the concept about people wanting to hold onto their money or the money of the company for as long as possible. Sometimes, that's good business, but they often don't know when to pony up some of it for needed improvements," JJ said rolling her eyes, as she thought of some of her colleagues.

"I can do it here. In fact, I'd prefer it," Zola said. "A lot of immortal births are done in the home, especially with multiples because of the possibility of a C-section."

"Just tell me what kind of equipment you'll need and I'll have Dave set up a room with all of it," JJ said.

"I'll get the equipment, because a lot of it can only be bought by a medical professional," Zola said. "Actually, I could build three incubators, so long as I have the right parts and that might be better."

"You can actually build something like that," JJ asked impressed.

"I've had to in the past when there was no hospital available," Zola admitted. "The concept is simple enough and I think I'll do that instead of buying them directly. I'll also set up some anesthesia, as you'll be put out for the operation. At least you won't need to be sewn back up, because you'll heal immediately."

"That's good, as that means that I can spend my three to five weeks of maternity leave with Dave and Aaron maybe take a vacation somewhere, with the children of course, instead of just sitting around home being bored, because I'm healing. I know I can't go back to work for at least three weeks, as there would be no explanation as to how I healed so fast unless I told everybody I gave birth naturally, which most people won't believe because triplets are rarely born naturally," JJ said.

"Well, that's one way to combat boredom," Zola smiled. "Believe me, my husbands and I have done the same thing and we've been together a lot longer then Dave has with you or Aaron. When I met my first husband it wasn't legal to have more than one spouse and same-sex marriages or even relationships were still taboo, much less legalized. People still did threesomes, though that was mostly immortals I'll admit, but they were quiet about it if that was the case, as we didn't want to attract the attention of the government. By the time I met my second mate, well, it still wasn't quite legal to have a threesome, but things were calmer and safer, as threesomes or even foursomes were mostly ignored, so long as they caused no trouble. Finally when it became common on the moon and Mars to have more than one spouse because the number of men outnumbered the women it became legal here to. It was a long hard fought battle though, because many people opposed it, but finally it passed mostly due to the fact that fertility in women had dropped, but also because people couldn't afford more than one or possibly two children because of the economy. Allowing more than two people to get married increased the money that each household was bringing in and therefore, they started to have more children, which helped the low birthrate considerably."

"That's really fascinating, but I better go tell Dave and Aaron and I'm having triplets, before they come barging in here wondering what's the matter."

"That's wise," Zola decided chuckling, as she could imagine that very easily. "I'd love to talk more later."

"I'd love that because I don't really have any friends that I can talk about things like this with, so not only would I like you to be my doctor I'd also like us to be friends," JJ said, smiling.

"I'd be delighted," Zola said pleased. "I have plenty of women friends, but we don't see each other very much for the most part as they have their own lives just like I have mine. Oh, we keep in contact over link and emails and we do visit each other, but still, we really don't see each other face-to-face very much. Once every few years is about average."

"Well, I'll be happy to see you whenever you come to visit whether that's because I'm pregnant again or just because. Really with the faster shuttles it really doesn't take long to get from place to place," JJ said.

"That's true so there's no reason we can't visit each other frequently," Zola said. "I'll be happy to be your physician whenever you get pregnant as that's my specialty since immortals don't get sick."

"But you do have mortal patients," JJ said and Zola nodded in agreement.

"Yes, I do, but then every immortal doctor has mortal patients, as not only is that a way to bring in more money it also helps maintain the practice without using your own funds. We have doctors at the clinic I run that specialize in mortal ailments, although that's mostly just cold, the flu, stuff like that."

"So have you had multiples?" JJ asked.

"Oh, yes, I have two mates after all," Zola said smiling. "Every immortal that has more than one mate has had multiples I promise you, though it doesn't usually happen the first time one of our kind gets pregnant after being turned immortal."

"So how often does it happen?" JJ asked.

"Well, it varies from woman to woman, but it certainly doesn't happen every time," Zola promised JJ. "Now, you need to gain at least 70 or 80 pounds in seven months. Make sure you take second helpings, eat high calorie deserts and other foods, as you don't need to diet right now. It won't matter if the babies are a little bit underweight, but they need to be at least 4 pounds apiece. Infants have survived that only weigh 2 or 3 pounds, but still, they'll be healthier if they aren't too much underweight, even if their immortality will prevent a lot of things that mortal infants go through like colic. I want you to eat as frequently as your stomach will let you. Every time you feel, even a little hungry I want you to snack. I know Dave's a terrific cook so have him prepare you high calorie meals."

"Man losing all the weight afterwards is going to be a pain," JJ sighed.

"Believe me, I sympathize," Zola grinned. "I've been through the same thing I promise you, but it will be worth it because you'll have three beautiful children along with your oldest son."

"Yeah, that's true," JJ said thoughtfully, "but I swear I'm not going to get pregnant for at least five years after this, as I wasn't expecting to have triplets for my first pregnancy with Dave and Aaron."

"Well, you are young enough to go through at least two more pregnancies, before you move elsewhere, even if you don't get pregnant for five years. I can't blame you for wanting to wait five years though, because you wouldn't want to put the weight back on so soon after you went to all the trouble of losing it. Not to mention all the aches and pains that come with having a child, much less three growing within you," Zola said. "You'll probably be around 10 or 15 pounds overweight by the time the children are born maybe a little more or less depending on the calories you can pack on."

"Alright," JJ said. "It will be a chance to indulge myself to pack on the calories when lately I have had to watch how much I eat, as I don't get much time to exercise anymore. I need to start doing that again though at least a few days a week. I've just been so involved with Dave and Aaron that I've been putting off my exercise, as I'm gone a lot of hours every day for my job as it is."

"Start exercising even when you're pregnant, although I wouldn't overdo considering you're carrying three," Zola said. "I can recommend light workouts just to keep yourself in good shape. You'll do much better once these babies are born if you don't let yourself get too out of shape and you won't have so much extra weight to lose."

"Alright, that's a good suggestion," JJ said. "Now I had better go inform Dave and Aaron who are probably anxiously pacing outside."

"That would be like Dave anyway," Zola chuckled the sound as deep and rich as the color of her skin, sounding almost like melted chocolate.

"It's like Aaron to, as both of them internalize their emotions a lot, particularly if they're upset or angry or frustrated. If they're happy or excited or some kind of positive emotion they usually let those out much easier than the negative ones."

"They might be afraid of hurting you if they show how frustrated or angry they are," Zola suggested.

"I think that's just them as they were doing that I'm sure long before they met me. I think it's just how they deal with bad situations," JJ said.

"Yeah, that sounds like Dave and Aaron sounds very similar," Zola chuckled.

"Like two peas in a pod in a number of ways," JJ said using a very old idiom. "Thank you for doing this and coming all the way out here just to see me. We can make an appointment for next week."

"I think that Thursday's would work best," Zola said remembering her schedule in her head. "After you get home from work will be fine or perhaps, Saturday would be better, although I know most doctors that work at a clinic take the weekends off unless they are working at a major hospital."

"Thursday's fine just sometime after 4 o'clock as I'm home by then most days anyway," JJ said. "Perhaps you can stay for dinner on those days, bring your husbands if you like."

"That's a possibility as I rarely have an opportunity for a home-cooked meal," Zola said. "I can cook and everything, but I often am just to tired to do so or I don't have time."

"What neither of your husbands can cook," JJ teased her.

"No, I'm afraid not, so we eat out often. You got lucky in that department since Dave is such a terrific cook and he doesn't have a job that requires long hours," Zola said.

"We share the cooking duties," JJ said, "as I can cook to, so while we still eat out it's just not as often."

"Well, it must be nice to be able to change cooking duties when necessary," Zola said just a tad wistfully.

"Definitely, as I'm very lucky in that respect," JJ said rising to her feet. "Well, let's go tell Dave and Aaron the good news, shall we?" JJ added smiling.

"You go do that and I'll pack up all this equipment," Zola said. "It's your responsibility, but believe me, both of them will be very happy at the news. I've known for a long time that Dave wanted children, but since his mate was male I know he figured he never have them as he wasn't going too just to get some woman pregnant, though I suppose he and Aaron could have adopted. When I heard that he had found another mate I was happy for him as I knew that you'd be able to have plenty of children by him and also by Aaron. Oh, I knew you might not have an easy time getting pregnant like so many women, but luckily that doesn't appear to be the case."

"Well, I would think that since the three of us are mates that we'd be compatible in that way as well as in our personalities," JJ suggested.

"I hadn't thought of that, but you're right," Zola agreed. "I've certainly never had trouble getting pregnant by either of my mates if I'm not doing anything to prevent it."

"I doubt any immortal does," JJ shrugged.

"That's a possibility," said Zola, as JJ exited the room to tell her mates the good news.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

"Triplets? You're saying it's triplets?" Dave asked JJ looking stunned while Aaron looked just as astounded beside him.

"That's what Zola said," JJ said grinning mischievously. "She said this is quite common with immortals who have more than one male as a mate."

Those hadn't been Zola's exact words, but it was close enough, JJ figured.

"I really like her and we're becoming friends," JJ added seeing the stunned expression on both her mates faces. She didn't blame them for being so shocked as they had been expecting a single baby just like Henry had been.

"What else did Zola say?" Aaron asked finally.

"Just that it's likely that these triplets are both of yours. Two of them will be either Dave's or yours Aaron and the other one will belong to the other man in my life. Of course, it's very possible that the triplets have just one father but Zola doesn't think it's too likely," JJ told them.

"I would say not considering how much the two of us have our way with you often in the same session," Dave said finally seeming to come back to himself. "I agree with Zola's opinion that in all probability the babies have two different fathers. I knew having multiples was possible when you had more than one mate, but I certainly didn't expect it to happen for your first pregnancy with us."

"Well, I didn't know, so you could've said something," JJ playfully scolded him.

"It didn't occur to me actually until you told us what Zola said," Dave shrugged not looking at all abashed.

"I'm very happy with the news, but after this I'm taking at least a five year sabbatical, so prepare yourselves for that. Also Zola and I have already agreed to a C-section and she'll do that right here in our home. She's already planning on building three incubators from scratch because multiples are always early and their lungs might not be fully developed."

"We can set up one of the rooms as a kind of medical bay downstairs as that's easier, just in case you aren't in our bedroom on the second floor when it happens," Dave offered immediately. "It's not like we don't have the space. It won't get much use, except when you're pregnant since immortals can't come down with a cold, or the flu or any of the more deadly diseases."

"I think perhaps a bed, plus room for three incubators will probably be enough," JJ said, "but we'll ask Zola just in case so we can be prepared. I really don't think much else will be required, because I'm not going to get an infection or anything like that as I'll heal up immediately. Oh, she also mentioned something about anesthesia, but he said that she'll get that, because only doctors and other medicals can."

"Put you to sleep while she does the C-section," Aaron said finally speaking.

"And it should last just long enough for her to do that, because that kind of thing wears off fast on immortals," Dave added.

"She'll also be requesting your help, because she can't do all of it herself," JJ said. "I suspect both of you will probably have the honor of cutting the umbilical cords and the other giving them their first bathes."

"We'll be happy to, "Aaron grinned. "I thought we would be waiting outside."

"Well, you are my mates and not some strangers, so I'd say it's okay for you to be there, even if Zola didn't agree," JJ grinned. "It looks like Henry's going to get three brothers or sisters right off the bat."

"Yep, he is," Dave grinned. "So you won't be having a child for at least five years after this."

"I wasn't sure if you heard that since you were so stunned," JJ said smiling.

"We were shocked, but it was a happy shock," Aaron said. "I never expected to be having triplets and at least one of them will likely have my DNA. So did Zola say it was a possibility for this to happen again?"

"Oh, yes, it should happen again, though not every time of course," JJ said. "I'm certainly glad it's not going to happen every time I get pregnant because I have to gain around 100 pounds extra, which will be no picnic. Zola wants to do the C-section at seven months because she doesn't think I can go more than 32 weeks, not with triplets anyway. She says that the babies will be formed by then with all their fingers and toes in place, but they'll still have to go into the incubators for a few days anyway. She actually wants to do the operation before I go into labor if possible since it will just be easier."

"So I'm assuming she advised you to eat as many calories as possible," Dave said, as he knew a lot about pregnant women, due to his sisters and brothers finding their mates and him being around when it was occurring.

"Yes, that's what she said. She told me eat high calorie deserts and high calorie meals and snack even if I feel only a little hungry. She said now was not the time to go on a diet, since I was eating for four now and not just for myself," JJ said. "Losing all the weight after will be a pain, which is one reason I don't want to get pregnant for at least five years, but also carrying around a hundred pounds extra weight or at least 70 or 80 is not for sissies, as I remember how my back ached with Henry in the last trimester."

"Well, I think we can manage that," Aaron said grinning at the thought that JJ was pregnant with three babies instead of the singleton they'd all been expecting.

"I'll just have Zola prescribe some meds to stop me from having my menstrual cycle every month which means you won't be able to get me pregnant so long as I remember to take them."

"Not getting pregnant for so long is okay with us," Dave said. "We wouldn't be very good mates to you or husbands for that matter if we forced you to have children before you were ready to do so. Besides, I think we'll have enough to handle with Henry and these three for awhile. We'll probably need to hire a second nanny."

"I am willing to go through it again once that five years has passed and I suspect I'll probably only have one that time, but we'll see. If I do only have one that second time then I'm willing to go though it again in a year and a half to two years, but then that will be it until we move somewhere else after our children are grown. I would prefer to wait at least a couple of decades after that before I consider having anymore or even longer, as that will give us time to spend together with just us," JJ said.

"That sounds possible," Dave said and Aaron nodded. "You aren't going to get too old to have children after all, not like a mortal would, so spacing them out like that sounds like a good idea. Have a bunch of them like 7 or 8 within a fifteen or twenty year period and then stop for decades."

"If we do it that way I have a nice long break before I have more," JJ said.

"We can do a lot of things in 20 or 30 years," Aaron speculated. "With Penelope Garcia to redo our history on every computer system we are going to be in every 100 years, it's relatively easy for us to get passports and visas. We could live in most countries in the world at some point."

"I can hardly wait for these triplets to be born," Dave said, as he kissed JJ tenderly.

"Neither can I," Aaron said, as he kissed JJ next.

"Well, you'll get your wish in just five months, because I'm already a couple of months pregnant," JJ said. "I'm going to have to really exercise like mad in order to lose all the weight I'll gain, although Zola did advise me to do light workouts, even while I'm pregnant as it will make it easier to lose all that weight once they're born."

"So I did," Zola said coming out of the room where she had examined JJ. "A light healthy workout is good for mother and child or in this case children, so long as she doesn't overdo. I'll make sure I send you a list of exercises that are safe for you to do while you're pregnant."

"Thank you for coming in all this way just to see JJ," Dave said sincerely.

"I owed you one and you've always been a good friend to me," Zola told him. "JJ and I are becoming friends as well and you can never have too many of those that are also like we are, so I should be thanking you."

"I even said we'd come to her practice a few times, as it's only common courtesy for her not to travel to Chicago every time I have an appointment."

"That's not a bad idea," Dave said. "It's just as easy for us to hop the shuttle as it is for Zola to."

"I would advise you not to travel unless it's by car or train once she gets farther along, as sometimes air pressure isn't good for babies and there's no point of taking chances. This is a high risk pregnancy, simply because JJ is carrying three, even though that's quite common in this century, for both mortals and immortals," Zola said. "I'll be happy to come to you, as it's not that long of a trip. If she was only carrying one I wouldn't be so worried, but multiple pregnancies can be delicate things and sometimes one or more of the fetus is simply vanishes for what seems no reason. This is called the vanishing twin syndrome, although really it ought to be called the vanishing multiple syndrome."

"So what happens to one or more of the fetus is?" Aaron asked.

"Well, most of the time the woman simply has a miscarriage and one of the fetuses is absorbed back into one of the other children's DNA or into the mother's or even into the placenta. If this happens in the first trimester then there will be no problems, but if it happens after that problems can develop. The fetus that supposedly vanished can actually become compressed due to the loss of fluids and most of the soft tissue to where it's like papyrus and this can block the birth canal for the surviving child or children. I wouldn't worry though JJ is in good health and I don't think this has happened to an immortal or if it has I haven't heard about it. It does happen in mortal women though and even in magicals sometimes. There is no scientific explanation to date why this occurs just that it does," Zola explained

"So no traveling later in the pregnancy just to be on the safe side," Aaron said.

"She's already two months along and I suggested a C-section at seven months, before she goes into labor, as they should be fully formed by then except, perhaps for their lungs. I'd rather wait at least another few weeks but with triplets she's likely to go into labor at probably 28 to 32 weeks. If she can carry them to the seven month point then they should be born healthy and their immortal genes will take care of so many things that might happen to a mortal infant, so they won't develop palsy for example from the way they were packed in the womb."

"And if she does go into labor we'll call you immediately," Dave said

"Hopefully, she will not," Zola said. "Just make sure you take it easy," Zola added in a side to JJ.

"I will," JJ promised. "I don't want anything to happen to any of the children I'm carrying."

"Good," Zola said pleased. "I'm sure Aaron and Dave will make sure you keep your word."

"You can count on it," Aaron told Zola determinedly.

"We won't let her overdo," Dave promised. "I'll be stuffing food down her throat so often that she'll probably be sick of me by the end of it, as she only has five months to gain about 70 or 80 pounds."

"I would prefer a hundred, but I doubt very much she'll gain that much in such a short span of time," Zola said, "as this is triplets after all. Now I had better get home."

"I'll see you next week," JJ told Zola.

"Next week," Zola agreed before she left them after Dave kissed her cheek thanking her again for her help.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~


	7. Chapter 7

Part 7

15 years later

"So you're saying you're immortal," Henry asked his mother and his two fathers Dave and Aaron.

Henry had just been called into the roomy living room, sat down as his parents calmly explained they were not mortal like he was and it was something he had wondered about for a couple of years anyway. They told him that they believed he was responsible enough to be let in on the secret as he knew how to keep his mouth shut and not just blab about it to anybody and very possibly to the wrong person.

"Yes, we know how hard it is to believe..." JJ began and then saw her son's expressions and recognized it instantly.

"What do you know?"

"Nothing really," Henry said. "I just wondered..."

"Wondered what?" asked Dave.

"Well, Cassy hurt herself a couple of years ago, just a scratch really and it healed instantly. I just happened to be there when it did and I know when I get a cut or a bruise that it doesn't heal even half as fast, which told me I was different."

"Well, we should have considered something like that happening," Aaron ventured finally to his mates. "There were bound to be a few incidents like one of us getting a scratch and Henry noticing that it healed in seconds."

"That is not something we considered and we should have," Dave said.

"So what do you think about it," JJ asked her son.

"Well, I don't really know," Henry admitted. "I knew I was different from my siblings, which means that I'm different from you, so that means that you aren't really my parents."

"Yes, we are," Aaron told Henry.

"He's right," JJ said. "I wasn't ever going to tell you this, because Aaron is your father in every way that matters. I carried you in my belly for nine months."

"Then why aren't I immortal," Henry challenged.

"Well, I wasn't always immortal," JJ told her son who looked stunned at that piece of information. "No, I was once mortal just like you are, I was pregnant with you before I met Dave and Aaron and it was decided that Aaron would put his name on your birth certificate."

"It doesn't matter if I'm your father by blood, as I still love you," Aaron told Henry. "I raised you as my son."

"I'm not disputing that," Henry said, "but I'm different from my siblings and I'm not sure how I feel about that."

"Well, there is a way to turn you immortal," Dave told. "And really that's why we wanted to talk to you.

"Remember I was once mortal just like you are, Henry," JJ told her son.

"How do you turn someone immortal?" Henry asked quizzically.

"There're two ways and the first method it is not for you," Dave said. "However, the second will work, although you might consider it to gross I believe the term is."

"What are these methods?" Henry asked.

"Well, the first method involves sex," JJ told my son her eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Mom!" Henry protested. "I don't like to think of my parents having sexual relations."

"Well, I'm sorry if you don't like to think of your parents making love, but it's the truth," Aaron shrugged grinning.

"What's the second method," Henry asked desperate to get off the subject.

"It requires you to drink our blood," Dave told Henry. "Our blood carries our genetics just like our sperm does, which is what turned your mother immortal. Having sex with any immortal for any length of time starts the process but it takes awhile depending on how often you make love. As for the second method it's used on those that want to be immortal and deserve the honor."

"Why not just use the first method?" asked Henry genuinely puzzled. "It certainly sounds more pleasant than drinking blood."

"Well, if you aren't mated that's possible," Aaron shrugged.

"Except for someone like you who is underage, not to mention our son," JJ said.

"Mated?" Henry asked.

"Yes, Henry mated," JJ said. "Aaron and I are mates to Dave and both of us were mortal at the time he found us. Dave is the only one that was born immortal and all immortals have at least one mate or soulmate in mortal terms. Of course, as should be obvious some of them have more than one. Dave had already found Aaron by the time that we met and both of them courted me before telling me exactly what they were. I didn't want to believe it at first, until they proved it to me and then I had to accept it."

"We decided that now that you're 15 you're responsible enough to be told as immortals must remain a secret from mortals with a few rare exceptions. You've proven that you know how to keep a secret and that you're responsible, but I never factored in that you might know something rather unusual was going on, because you saw something that shouldn't be possible."

"So when Cassy's cut healed..." Henry began.

"That's just a immortal's natural healing abilities," JJ explained. "Even broken bones heal really fast, within a few hours at most."

"So when I broke my leg a few years ago playing soccer..."

"It would've healed really fast, but you wouldn't of been able to return to school for a week at least even if you were completely healed, as immortals must remain a secret and there would've been no way to explain why you had healed within a day or so," Aaron said.

"Well, a few days vacation doesn't sound too bad," Henry grinned.

"Probably not to someone your age," Dave said smiling knowing that Henry was a conscientious student and he was also very intelligent just like his mother, so his grades reflected that.

"Of course, turning you Immortal is your choice, as that was something that Dave, Aaron and I agreed on when you were still in my womb," JJ told her son. "We agreed that if you proved responsible enough you would be told about immortals and given the choice as to whether to become one. All of us think you are old enough to make this decision as you're incredibly mature for your age and you've proven that you are responsible and know how to keep your mouth shut."

"You won't even be able to get a cold anymore if you decide to do this much less something like cancer, AIDS or herpes," Aaron added.

"Would you like me to do this?" Henry asked his mother.

"I'm not going to answer that, because the decision must be yours and you must not be influenced by any of us," JJ said seriously. "Immortality can be rather tedious and boring at times as it's hard to keep yourself entertained the older you get. Of course, that's not usually a problem for Dave, Aaron and I since we are mated and we do what all mated couples do."

Henry blushed deeply at that, but didn't comment.

"I think I want to," Henry said finally. "Though I'm certainly not looking forward to drinking all your bloods."

"I don't blame you there," Aaron smiled relieved at Henry's decision knowing that JJ and Dave were as well, without even having to look in their direction.

"We had better get started then, although you are allowed to change your mind," Dave said. "I'm very proud of the maturity you're showing Henry."

"All I wanted was to be like the rest of my family," Henry told everyone. "I always knew I was different, but I didn't know why."

"You could've come to us," JJ told her son.

"I thought you would think I was crazy that I was seeing things," Henry admitted lowering his head in shame. "It never occurred to me that you also could heal fast just like Cassy had. Really, at first I thought I was imagining things, you know?"

"Yeah, I can imagine that very easily," JJ said giving her son a gentle hug. "I remember what it's like to be a kid and wondering if you should tell an adult something feeling that you'll not be believed so you do nothing."

"Did Cassy know that she was immortal?" Henry asked suddenly.

"We told her when she asked us," Aaron admitted. "We asked her not to say anything to the others as most of them at that time did not know they were anything other than mortal. None of them have had even a broken bone and probably no scratches or bruises or if they did get them they didn't notice when they healed quickly or possibly they just thought it was normal. Kids and teenagers tend to be fairly oblivious to getting that kind of thing anyway since they are so minor."

"I wonder why Cassy didn't report what you had seen to us," Dave said.

"She probably didn't think it was important," JJ said.

"Or she's so used to getting scrapes and bruises that it never occurred to her that them healing so fast is not normal," Aaron said. "I doubt most people are observant enough to pay attention if she gets bruises and cuts and they heal instantly, not unless it's fairly prominent and noticeable, like a black eye."

"You know who my real father is?" Henry asked his mother not seeing the hurt look that flashed across Aaron's face, which he concealed quickly.

"No," JJ lied smoothly, because she didn't want Henry to have any kind contact with his father, as the father had no idea that he had even gotten her pregnant and she wanted it to remain that way. She didn't want him to suddenly try to claim some sort of parental rights, "I dated several men around that time and it could have been any of them."

Both Dave and Aaron knew she was lying, but said nothing, because they also thought it was for the best that Henry never learn what his father was like.

"When I discovered I was pregnant well I was single again, so I decided to raise you myself. I met Dave and Aaron only a few months later," JJ added.

Henry looked disappointed, but nodded in acceptance.

"So you want us to start turning you immortal now or do you want to wait awhile?" Dave asked changing the subject deliberately. "There's no set time limit, you know, as to when it has to be done, although once we start we should continue with it until it is done."

"Let's get it over with, though I'm certainly not looking forward to drinking blood," Henry decided and was dismayed to discover that it was going to be a several day process.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

Part 2

113 years later

"Since you rescued me I'm going to try to see the future for you," The witch said.

Dave, Aaron and JJ had been looking at all the things for sale in the section of the city that was set up for the magicals, exploring really for this was a new city for them as they had moved just late last year, as they had felt it was time.

The three of them we're now living in Pennsylvania which was a large city, even larger than Chicago or San Francisco. Every major city had a large magical population and just like the Chinese they had their own section of the city.

The two of them had been looking at the shops, that sold magical items, clothes, food and just about anything that you could get at the normal stores, except for the magical things which was only sold in the magical portion of the city.

This was where you could get charms and amulets for protection or for any number of things, ones that really worked. Of course, there were also a lot fakes and so you had to know where to go and what questions to ask in order to make sure you weren't taken advantage of.

The three of them had been having a grand time having lunch at a small café, buying a few items at different shops when they had heard somebody scream. The three of them had rushed towards the sound without even thinking about it, although JJ had hung back, since she wasn't really a fighter. Besides, she knew that Dave and Aaron could handle themselves in most situations and any wounds they got would heal quickly.

The three of them had found a very beautiful woman with hair of a deep reddish brown like a penny, green eyes, a pert nose and firm chin, being attacked by three men.

Aaron and Dave didn't care why the three men were attacking, as no one should try to corner a lady to do who knows what to her. The witch was holding her own, as she threw stunning spells out of her hand at her attackers actually hitting one of them so that he was down for the count. That left only two to deal with. Aaron and Dave hit the pair like an avalanche and since the men weren't expecting to be attacked from behind they were soon tied up, with magical ropes that were stronger than steel, so there was no chance of the men getting loose.

After the witch had thanked them telling them her name was Arya, she had looked at them and at JJ who had joined her husbands once the fighting was over for a long time. Finally she seemed to decide that they were trustworthy and led them in to her small shop that had arcane items absolutely everywhere, all of which were for sale.

"You don't need to do that as we didn't do it for any reward," Aaron said.

"I know that, because I have looked into your soul and saw that you are good people, though not mortal," Arya said.

All three immortals stared at her in astonishment, but said nothing to either confirm or deny that statement.

"You don't have to say anything as I can see your auras, which is a talent that many magicals have. Your auras are extremely bright and unbroken around your bodies, which tells me that your lives have been very long and will continue to be so. I have never encountered this before but then I know you probably try to keep your immortality a secret for your own protection," Arya said.

"We would appreciate it if you would keep this information to yourself," Dave said finally, his tone calm, though his heart was beating just a little faster then normal, even if no one knew it.

"I will, because you saved me and I'm grateful," Arya said. "Do not worry about those three men they will be taken care of I promise you."

Then menace in Arya's voice was surprising, but not unexpected considering what had nearly happened.

"As you wish, my lady," Dave said bowing graciously causing Arya to giggle, a lovely sound.

"Now as promised I'm going to try to see the future for you, because I'm grateful you saved my life and because I like you," Arya said.

"Is reading the future hard?" JJ asked speaking for the first time.

"Not hard precisely, it just makes me very tired, depending on how far I try to see and it also depends what the gods want to show me," Arya answered. "I need something personal from each of you. You're wedding rings for example, something that you treasure, as it will make the seeing easier."

The three handed over their wedding bands, although they felt anxious when they left their fingers, for they had not been removed, since they had tied the knot so many decades previously.

Arya took the three rings in one hand, lit a small burner of incense and then closed her eyes concentrating and Dave, Aaron and JJ watched this in fascination. Finally, Arya's eyes snapped open, but they weren't the same as her pupils were blown wide and she seemed to be seeing far off into the distance instead of what was directly in front of her.

"You will find your final mate in this very city," Arya began her voice distant and echoing slightly. "He is male, has dark brown hair, slightly shaggy and long, golden brown eyes, is tall and slender and dressed very old-fashionedly. You will meet when you least expect it and very soon, so do not be surprised when you do."

Arya blinked and her eyes closed and then reopened again immediately no longer wide and unseeing.

"I hope what I have seen will help you," Arya said finally seeming to recover from the vision quickly. She handed them back their wedding bands, which all three quickly slipped back on their fingers.

"It has indeed and we thank you my lady," Aaron told Arya doing the bowing this time.

"You saved my life, it was the least I could do," Arya said, as she rose, a little unsteady on her feet, but she needed little help.

"Thank you," Dave told her taking her arm gently in order to help steady her. "You didn't need to do that. Aaron and I only did the right thing, even if we're well aware that most people wouldn't have bothered."

"A good deed deserves a reward," Arya announced smiling. "I truly believe that you will find your mate soon and that you'll literally run into him or maybe it's him into you."

"Are you okay?" JJ asked Arya in a gentle tone.

"I'm fine, thank you for your concern," Arya said. "I didn't see very far into the future as you can always tell when it's more distant, so it didn't take much energy. I'll have myself a cup of tea and something to eat and I'll be just fine I promise you."

"If you ever need to contact us here is my card," Dave said handing over a business type card that he always carried with him, just in case. "The three of us will always be grateful to you, because we never knew when we would find our final mate. I never thought about coming to a soothsayer to perhaps, see when we would."

"This is good David Rossi and yes, I know who you are," Arya said smiling at Dave's astonishment, as she hadn't even looked at his business card to know his name. "The gods told me so when I went into my vision and told me that you were a good man, which is why I think my vision was so clear instead of shrouded in fog like they often are. You don't think about asking a magical to do something that can be done with two hands and a little effort. You don't depend on magic or magic users and so for that reason and for saving me with no ulterior motive you have been rewarded. You aren't always bothering magicals for some petty reason, as so many people want to them curse a neighbor or a coworker to make them ill or for them to have bad luck. Little accidents that start to mount up until they get more major and therefore, more painful and can even lead to death eventually. Those curses I do not sell here, although I cannot say the same for some of my neighbors. No, I only sell good things, things to give sweet dreams, if one is prone to nightmares. Amulets to help a woman get pregnant and give birth more easily. I sell charms that will ward off most sicknesses and support the immune system, so that you always remain healthy, although that doesn't include things like heart attacks cancer or strokes, so it's minor illness, such as the flu, a cold, bronchitis or for a baby, colic that type of thing. There're many things that I sell that will help people."

"Well, perhaps we'll be back," JJ said, smiling. "I've had quite a few children and anything that would make it easier would be a godsend, although I certainly don't need any help getting pregnant, as that's not my problem."

"Perhaps, I will see you again then, Jennifer," Arya announced.

"Well, this has been a most eventful trip," Aaron said, once they were out of the shop and back on the street.

"That's probably the understatement of the millennium," JJ snorted. "Still, I'm glad we didn't walk by, as she was really nice and no one deserves to be attacked by three big men like that. I wonder why they were? What they wanted?"

"I doubt she'd tell us, even if we ask, as that's her own private business," Dave said. "It could've been for any number of reasons including the fact that some people hate magicals, because they have powers, regular humans do not possess. After all, magicals aren't a secret community like immortals are and some people hate what they don't understand."

"Or want it for themselves," JJ suggested and the others nodded.

"We did learn that we'll meet our last mate soon, which is wonderful news," Aaron said smiling.

"Yes, it is," JJ said also smiling. "I was hoping for another woman, somewhere I can talk to about girl things and go shopping with, since neither of you is interested in doing either one. Still, I'm looking forward to meeting this tall dark haired man with golden brown eyes."

"I don't blame you for wanting another female as our mate," Dave said smiling. "I'm sorry that didn't happen, but I don't control these things."

"It's okay, no one is to blame really," JJ shrugged philosophically. "I'll just have to go shopping with Penelope whenever she's in town or maybe Zola, by myself or even with some of the girlfriends I'll make at some point. Of course, that means I'm the only one that can get pregnant, so I'm glad we spread them out so much."

"Yes, that's true," Aaron said. "It might have been nice to have another female as our final mate and not just because of the fact that they're the only ones that can bear children, but because that would have meant that there was an even number of males and females."

"It doesn't matter," Dave said. "It's more common to see more males in group marriage than females anyway although I'm not sure why it works out that way a lot of times."

"So we should expect to run into this guy sometime soon," JJ said. "Really though, soon is a relative term as that could mean anywhere from a few days to a year or even five years."

"I don't think it'll be more than a few months at most," Dave voiced his opinion. "I think Arya was nice to try to see the future for us and I'm sure she told us all she was capable of."

"I'm sure she did," Aaron agreed.

"Well, if this guy's just going to literally run into us, which could mean any number of things, I suggest we just go about our normal routine," JJ said. "You know go out to dinner go to the park with the kids, go to exhibits around Pennsylvania since we've never lived here before."

At the moment the three of them had five kids as the triplets that JJ had given birth to along with Henry had long since grown up. Henry had been 15 when he had drank the blood of Aaron, Dave and his own mother. With him drinking very fast 16 ounces or so of blood a day it had only taken a week or so to turn him immortal. Henry had sworn he would never do that with anybody as blood tasted absolutely nasty. Still, even though, the process wasn't very pleasant Henry had been immortal for 85 years now, so JJ hadn't lost her son to death once he had aged and died when his time had been run like all mortals did and neither had Dave or Aaron. Blood was a powerful force so it was a much faster way to turn someone immortal, then the usual method through sex.

"That's a good idea," Dave said. "You don't have a job to worry about right now as you retired years ago, so we can do basically what we want. We need to be seen if this guy is going to literally run into us."

"Well then, let's just do normal things," Aaron said. "Go shopping for furniture for the house we just bought, as we only bought enough for the master bedroom and one bathroom, so far."

"We have an entire house the furnish and that's going to take multiple shopping trips."

"Something I know the two of you don't like to do," JJ teased them.

"We don't mind shopping," Aaron rolled his eyes.

"We just can't shop all day like you can particularly for something like clothes," Dave added. "Luckily, we have a beautiful wife that does a lot of clothes shopping for us and knows what we prefer."

"Yes, you're very lucky that I do that mostly for you, so you don't have to do all that nasty trying on," JJ teased them. "I know what will look good on you and I know your sizes, as I should after all these decades."

"Well, at least we exercise to maintain our weight, so you don't have to worry about getting bigger sizes," Aaron said.

"I would still love you even if you got fat, but I certainly appreciate what you do to maintain yourselves," JJ said, looking at her to mates with appreciation in her eyes. "Believe me, I'm usually the envy of a lot of women no matter where we live for having two such handsome men as my husbands."

"Soon to be three," Dave reminded her and JJ nodded.

"I know, but we haven't met him yet," JJ said. "It might be months or even years before we do."

"It might be months, but I suspect it won't be years or Arya never would have said it was close," Aaron said. "I don't know much about soothsayers or foresight, but I suspect that she would have been more exhausted if she had really seen years into the future. As it was she was a little unsteady on her feet, but the tea and the food will likely revive her. I agree with Dave and think it won't be more than six months on the outside and likely much sooner then any of us is expecting."

"You're probably right," JJ conceded.

The three fell silent as they continued to walk around the magical quarter of the city just seeing the sights and looking in any shop that interested them.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

1 month later

"Come along kids," JJ told her children, three girls and two boys.

The kids were varying ages from ten to just two and JJ was carrying the two-year-old on her back, as he wasn't big enough to keep up with his older siblings who were 4, 6, 8 and 10.

"Oh, boy a picnic," JJ's oldest girl cooed. She was 10 years old and it was obvious to anybody that she was Dave's little girl, even though she had JJ's blonde hair.

"Well, it's certainly the perfect day for one," Aaron told the little girl who he considered just as much his as Dave's, as he should because they were related if only through marriage.

"Yes, it is," Dave agreed. "It's a nice 75° the sky is clear and no rain was predicted. It's certainly the perfect day for a picnic in the park."

The children were enthusiastic and when given permission went to explore, as there were plenty of things to see and do for kids and adults. All three adults kept a close eye on them for children and had gotten lost or kidnapped out of parks before, although that seemed unlikely on such an idyllic day. Still, it was better to be cautious.

Suddenly, all three saw a man with the camera approach their kids and they watched him closely, but he stopped a few feet away and took several photos. As they watched they saw the way that he tried to use the light to his best advantage and felt that he was probably a professional, maybe even had a job that involved photography.

Suddenly he turned towards them and they saw his golden brown eyes and knew immediately that this man, whoever he was, was their last mate. He was certainly tall and slim as Arya had described him with deep dark brown hair and his eyes really were a golden brown.

"Come on kids time to eat," Aaron called.

There was a sound of running footsteps and the kids arrived in just a few seconds.

"What's for lunch?" asked six-year-old Ashley.

"Well, we'll see won't we," Dave smiled, although he kept an eye on their third mate out of the corner of it. The man looked rather wistful, Dave thought and he suspected that he was often lonely.

"You want to come over and join us Mister..." JJ asked fishing for a name.

"Spencer Reid," the man answered. "And no, that's okay I can see that you're enjoying yourselves you don't need some stranger..."

"We'll be glad of your company," Dave interrupted. "We saw you taking some photographs and maybe you can show us some of your work. There's plenty of food for all of us, as we always pack too much."

"Well, okay," Spencer blinked in surprise at the sincerity of the words. "If you really don't mind…"

"We don't mind at all," Aaron said, as he studied their last mate and decided he was indeed a handsome man in a quiet sort of way, though that was more due to his posture and body language then his looks, as the ladies would be falling all over him if he corrected that, just like they did for him and Dave.

Spencer came and joined them on the blanket putting his expensive camera to the side carefully.

"So Mr. Reid, do you work for a newspaper?"

"You can call me Spencer," Spencer said. "When you say Mr. Reid I think you're talking about my father. As for your question no, I don't work for a newspaper I'm a freelance photographer and have had several showings of my work over the last few years."

"Well, I'm Dave, David Rossi and this is my family Aaron, Jennifer, though she prefers to be called JJ and our kids Caroline, who prefers Caro, Wesley or Wes, Andrea, Ashley or Ash and Frank is the youngest."

"You have a lovely family," Spencer told everyone and other adults smiled at them while the kids waited impatiently for the food to be served.

"Well, we better serve this ravenous bunch before they devour everything in sight," JJ smiled. She opened the picnic basket and began to take out items such as paper cups and plates, several bottles of lemonade, ham and cheese, as well as turkey and cheese sandwiches and several other items all perfect for a picnic in the park.

"Well, it all looks good," Spencer smiled, although it was tinged with nervousness, as he wasn't used to people actually inviting him to eat with them or to do anything else for that matter. He was something of a loner, though not by choice, but due to his nervousness in social situations. He had never been married, nor had he ever had kids, though he had wanted both for several years, but he had never met anyone that he would be willing to settle down with, have a family. He had never even taken out a one year marriage contract with anybody to see if they were suitable, as living with someone told you a lot about them. Many people took out temporary contracts before they got married by the traditional ceremony.

JJ served everyone a sandwich and plastic cups of lemonade, all except for the two-year-old Frank who had a sippy cup, as he was still spilling things on a regular basis, as he hadn't quite mastered those particular motor skills.

Spencer thought the little boy in particular was adorable, but really they were all just the cutest children. The little boy Frank had his father's black hair, nose chin and his mother's blue eyes and it was clear that he was Aaron's, and so was the third oldest girl Andrea, while the other three were Dave's. It was clear that this was just a happy family who ignored his obvious nervousness and chatted casually with him while the children were gobbling up their food, as if they hadn't been fed in a month, paying absolutely no attention to him.

"Can we go play now dad?" The question came from the six year old girl Andrea after she had finished her lunch.

"Of course," Dave answered "but don't go too far, you hear? Stay where we can see you."

"Ah, dad," the children whined all except for the 10-year-old who was somewhat aware of the dangers in the world and also the two year old Frank who hadn't left his mother's lap as he was content just sipping on his sippy cup that was full of lemonade.

"Kids, listen to your father," JJ told them with steel beneath her tone. "He's only trying to watch out for you. The world out there is dangerous and there are a lot of bad people in it."

"Yes, mom," the three of the kids said looking downcast.

"Go on, scat," JJ ordered her tone once again gentle.

The four children scattered at her command, but didn't go too far as ordered.

Well, that was something else, Spencer thought. All the children had just fallen into line when JJ had told them to obey their father's command. He wasn't sure that most other children would have been so obedient at that age, mostly because their curiosity would've gotten the better of them. He had been one of the smart kids that had known to stay put when ordered, but most kids weren't that way and you had to keep your eye on them every minute, so they didn't get into trouble.

"Well, I should be going to," Spencer said starting to rise to his feet. "I need to be getting home. Thank you for lunch, I enjoyed myself very much."

Spencer didn't mention the undeniable attraction he felt for all three of them, because they were a happy family and they certainly wouldn't want someone like him to be part of it. He was too smart for his own good for one thing or at least he had been told that often enough by his father that he believed it. Who would want to marry a walking textbook, as his father had accused him of being more than once. His father had told him that 1,023, just in the ten years he had lived in the same house and really he hadn't started saying that until he was five or so, which meant he had said it quite often in less then five years before he had left his family forever.

"Why don't you stay and talk to us instead of running off," Aaron suggested gently.

"Oh, you don't need me around, I'm a stranger to you after all," Spencer protested, trying not to look desperate to escape.

"Right now you're a stranger to us, but that could change if you were willing to put in the effort," JJ told him. "Besides, we know each other's names so technically, the description of stranger doesn't really apply and the fact, that we don't know you very well and you don't know us can be corrected over time."

"While that's true what do you want of me?" Spencer asked, just a little suspiciously, as he wasn't used to people wanting to be friends with him. He had Derek who had kind of forced his way into his rather isolated life until he had just accepted his presence. They had become friends without him really even noticing they had. Also there was Emily Prentiss, who was also a friend and did his shows as she owned a photography gallery, but other then that he had no one. His mother was in an institution in Las Vegas and his father wasn't worth mentioning, so he was basically alone with no family.

"To become friends," Dave told him honestly, "and possibly something more."

"Why would you want to be friends with me I'm just a photographer," Spencer told them his expression incredulous.

"What you're not saying is people like you are mostly invisible and yet you create incredible art if you're any good at your job," Aaron said.

"I chose photography because it interested me and I seemed to have a talent for it. My mother loved taking photos and she named me after Spencer Reid who was a famous photographer way back in the 20th Century. He was her favorite for many reasons. She used to love to take pictures, even if she didn't make a career out of it like I'm doing as I inherited her incredible talent," Spencer told them.

I also did it to piss off my father who thought I should get a big important job like with the FBI, but photography has always been my true love and passion. My father claimed I'd never make it as a freelancer, but I make a more than a decent salary, since I'm becoming better known over the last year or so. Sure it was hard until recently as I only made so much, but I got by. Now my career is really taking off.

"We are interested in getting to know you," JJ told Spencer who simply looked at her blinking in astonishment, as nobody had ever told him that before not even his two friends as Derek and Emily had kind of just inserted themselves into his life until he wasn't exactly sure how he had lived without them.

"Do you always invite strangers to eat lunch with you," Spencer asked. "Offer them your friendship?"

"No, this is a first," Aaron candidly admitted.

"Still, whether it is a first or not we really do want to get to know you better," Dave said, seeing that Spencer was wavering.

Spencer still a little suspicious of their motives studied each of them intently for a few seconds then nodded.

"We know you're suspicious of our motives," Dave said. "You really have every right to be, because you have no idea if we're drug dealers or something."

"I don't think drug dealers hangout in the park with their family on a pleasant Saturday afternoon," Spencer snorted. "It's obvious that those were your kids as they look too much like the three of you not to be, and while I'm aware drug dealers have families they aren't likely to bring their kids to the park for a family picnic. Of course, bad people aren't always obvious, since a lot of them keep up their civilized veneer and nobody ever discovers what they truly are."

"Well, at least you don't suspect us of selling drugs to the kiddies or even to adults," Aaron said, smiling.

"But there are a lot of other types of criminals you know," Spencer said, "and I'm sorry if that insult you but it's true."

"It doesn't insult us, because you're right, you have to be careful who you associate with, because the world is a dangerous place after all," Dave said. "Feel free to do a background check on us, we won't be insulted if you do I promise you. We did offer you our friendship out of the blue after all, but I assure you it is genuine. Perhaps, we're looking to add somebody else to our happy family."

"If that's the case I would think you would choose another female, someone who can have children," Spencer said.

If it had been our choice we would have, but it wasn't our choice, as we aren't the ones that decide such things, Aaron thought but didn't say out loud, since he knew such a statement would hurt Spencer and also likely confuse him. Even if they would have liked another female to join their family they felt Spencer would make a nice addition once they got to know him better. He was intelligent that much was obvious, but he was also obviously a little shy around people, so it was likely he lived a pretty isolated life. Aaron doubted that he got out much except to do photographs and he probably mostly avoided people when he did so. No, he was the quiet self-contained type, with likely very little self-confidence unless it was behind the lens of a camera. His childhood had likely been abusive in some way, although it'd probably just been neglect where at the least one of his parents had ignored their son's needs.

"We thought about it," Dave shrugged, "but they have to fit our little group and not cause friction within our family. They have to be willing to pitch in with the chores, when they have free time as we don't have a maid to do that for us, though we could. They just have to fit in with our family, help take care of the kids among other things, although we also have a nanny for that when we want time to ourselves and she does a lot of things without being asked."

Dave didn't mention the real reason they hadn't gone looking for a female to fill out their group, because he didn't think Spencer was ready to hear that yet. He would probably think they were crazy if they told him the real reason they wanted him as part of their group now.

"And you think I'll fit in with you, even if I'm interested in what you're offering?" Spencer asked.

"Why don't you give us a chance?" Aaron suggested. "Let's date for awhile, all four of us since Dave, JJ and I come as a package deal."

"I don't know," Spencer said uncertainly.

He wasn't sure what he should do, because this offer had come just out of the blue. He still wasn't sure why these three people were interested in dating or even getting to know plain, ordinary Spencer Reid, someone who had a brain too big for his own good according to his father anyway. According to his father it was okay to be intelligent just not super intelligent, like he was, but then Spencer knew intellectually at least that what his father thought was so twisted and out of proportion that it was in no way realistic and that people with a very high IQ got married and had families all the time.

Go ahead and do it, his subconscious urged him. Do you always want to be alone, because you are to afraid to take a chance? This might turn into nothing but how do you know unless you give it a decent chance of working? You probably won't get an offer like this again and personally, I would grasp it with both hands. You're attracted to all three of them and you know this if you would just admit it to yourself. Are you going to let your father control your life until you're an old man?

It was that last thought of his subconscious that had him agreeing, as he'd had enough of his father trying to control his life, even though he hadn't seen the man in 20 years, not since he had left his son and his sick wife, and he sincerely hoped he never ran into the bastard again.

"Alright," Spencer decided finally. "I'm sure Derek will be shocked when I tell him about this," Spencer added wryly with a twitch of his lips.

"A friend yours?" JJ asked smiling.

"Oh, yes, he kind of just inserted himself into my life when I wasn't looking for friends or it's more than friends weren't looking for me. We kind of became friends before I even realized it," Spencer said smiling a little. "He can be very stubborn and persistent. Stubborn should be his middle name actually, as he's the most stubborn person I've ever known. Now, I don't know how I ever lived without him. He's been urging me for a long time to get out there and date and I've always resisted his effects before." Spencer shrugged, as if to say he wasn't one to be forced into anything. "Of course, I don't think he ever imagined me with more than one person."

"Well, we'd like to meet him sometime," Dave said smiling.

"I'm sure you will because he'll probably insist on meeting you to question you about your intentions," Spencer told them smiling a little. "He really can be overprotective."

"He just doesn't want you to get yourself into a bad situation that's all," JJ gently suggested.

"He ignores the fact that I learned to look after myself a long time ago," Spencer said with just a trace of bitterness in his voice.

"People do what they do because they care," Aaron said ignoring the bitterness in Spencer's tone for the moment, but he filed it away to ask their last mate about later.

"Why don't we exchange link numbers and also email addresses," JJ suggested.

"If you're not too busy tomorrow we'll have our first date then," Dave suggested.

"I set my own schedule," Spencer shrugged. "I work better without a lot of restrictions, so tomorrow will be fine. Just call me with the time or send me an email."

"Well, I was thinking all day," Dave admitted. "I was thinking we could spend most of the day together and not just go to lunch or dinner."

Spencer blinked at that in astonishment. "You want to spend all day with me?" Spencer tone was absolutely astounded.

"What's so unusual about that?" Aaron asked with a straight face.

"Oh, let me count the ways," Spencer said with that shocked expression. "You barely know me for one thing."

"This is a way for us to get to know you better that's all," JJ said.

"Also you must have jobs that you need to go to during the day," Spencer continued.

"Not on Sunday and no, we're not working right now, although we could," Dave shrugged causally.

Spencer blinked at that for that told him that these three were more than well-off if they didn't have jobs.

"And finally what about the kids?" Spencer said.

"That's what Joan is for," JJ said. "She's there to give us the freedom to do what we want. We spend lots of time with our kids, take them to school and so forth, but occasionally, we want time with just the three of us." Hopefully, soon to be four, JJ added in her thoughts, but didn't voice.

"Joan, will more than understand that we're dating again hoping to add you to our merry little group and pick up the slack," Aaron said. "She does a lot for us without being asked anyway."

"Yeah, she's part of the family," Dave said smiling. "She works for us that's true, but she's kind of like a grandma or perhaps an aunt to the kids."

"Alright, tomorrow then," Spencer decided.

"We'll, pick you up at your apartment," Dave said. "8 o'clock unless that's too early for you."

"Oh, no, I'm usually up by 6:00, 6:30 or so," Spencer said. "Sometimes earlier, because the early morning hours are when I get some of my best shots because of the light."

"Good, we'll pick you up at 8 o'clock then," Aaron said.

"I'll be ready," Spencer promised.

All of them exchanged addresses, link numbers and email addresses before they parted.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~


	8. Chapter 8

Part 8

"Well, that went rather well," JJ commented, once she, Dave and Aaron were alone, as the children had been put to bed.

"There were a few tense moments, but yes, it did go rather well," Dave agreed not having to ask what JJ meant.

"I think he was likely at least neglected by either one or both his parents," Aaron said. "I doubt he got the love and guidance he needed in his childhood. I should recognize the signs considering my past."

"You don't think he went through what you did?" Dave asked a little worriedly.

"I don't think he went through that particular experience," Aaron said carefully, refusing to use such an distasteful word as rape. "I firmly believe that it was just neglect, not that that's not bad enough, but it's certainly better than what I went through. He shows all the signs of not having had any support in childhood, so that he grew up confident in his abilities and in himself. He would also likely interact with people more easily, if he'd had any support at all."

"Yes, he was nervous and entire time he had lunch with us," JJ said. "It was as if he was afraid he was going to be rejected."

"Or slapped for speaking his mind whether verbally or physically," Dave said suddenly.

"Probably only verbally," Aaron said. "Yes, I can imagine that scenario very easily. Where either his mother or his father or even both got on him for speaking his mind. It's possible that one or both of them tore into him verbally at least so often that he learned to keep his mouth shut."

"And that's likely why he was so nervous when he was sitting with us," JJ realized. "Why he didn't want to join us in the first place until he gave in under our urging."

"Yeah, he looked like he wanted to bolt for most of the meal, but was too polite to do so," Dave said.

"I truly think that he's not used to interacting with many people, except this Derek that he said kind of just inserted himself into his life until he was accepted as a friend," Aaron said. "We're going to have to go about this very carefully or he will bolt and we likely won't get him back after that."

"We can't afford to come on too strong then," Dave said

"We might have to let him realize his feelings for us before we say anything," JJ suggested.

"I don't think he'll do anything about it though, even if he does," Aaron said. "I think he believes that he's not suitable to be anyone's husband, which again is his lack of confidence in the social arena talking. While photography is a noble profession, it's also mostly done alone and I doubt he has to interact with very many people, except for whatever gallery his photos are shown at. It's possible I'm wrong and that he does portraiture, you know people, but I suspect he only does scenery, buildings, things like that. He might take pictures of people from afar, but I doubt very much that he ever approaches them."

"Which again goes back to his childhood," Dave summarized. "If you're told your useless or you'll never amount to anything or that nobody will ever want to marry you because you're to ugly, plain or smart often enough you'll start to believe it. Children are very impressionable and they need positive role models in their life and I doubt very much that Spencer had any."

"Yes, I agree with that," Aaron said. "I doubt he was ever socialized, ever played with other children and he was likely bullied in school as well, as he just seems to fall into that category. How severe that bullying was I don't know, but if he had nobody in his corner, someone to try to deal with the situation by calling the school then it was probably pretty severe. We all know that children can be cruel to someone they consider an easy target."

"So how do we handle this?" JJ asked.

"Well, we made our intentions clear from the beginning," Dave said slowly. "He doesn't know why we're interested of course, and I think at this point it's best we don't tell him, as that will likely send him running for the hills."

"I think we're going to have to take it very slowly. He has no reason to trust us and I suspect that his trust isn't going to be easily won," Aaron said. "He's probably going to be watching for signs of betrayal or that we're lying. When you've been betrayed or lied to all the time as a child you have a hard time trusting people afterwards. We're going to have to watch ourselves."

"We have no reason to lie to him, but still, we do need to be careful," Dave said. "We'll see how tomorrow goes, before we start to make anymore plans, as all this is just guesswork and conjecture. It's probably at least mostly correct, but we don't know that for sure."

"We don't want to mess his up, so if that means going slowly then so be it, as we don't want to push him into something he's not ready for," JJ said.

"No, that would probably be the worst thing we could do," Aaron said. "We're going to have to ease him into accepting us as friends and then take it from there. I'm sure it took this Derek months to get Spencer to realize that he was trustworthy and if that's the case then his childhood really was fucked up. Yes, I admit so was mine, but I was always an alpha male, with more confidence in myself then Spencer seems to have at this point. I also had Dave after I was 14 and he helped me tremendously. Spencer's never had anyone as far as we know, because he'd probably have more confidence if he had. Also, if as I suspect he was severely bullied in school that could also affect his personality, because if you've been bullied enough you're always looking over your shoulder for the next dagger thrown, even if that's only figuratively. He probably always would have had a quiet personality but likely wouldn't be so awkward around strangers, if he'd gotten at least some support from the adults in his life. Being bullied was never my problem as I was always one of the popular kids, even though my father tried his best to destroy that confidence."

"I think he's done remarkably well considering," JJ said. "It's obvious that he's made a life for himself, a good life, as freelance photographers make a lot if they're any good at what they do and he probably did it against all predictions to the contrary."

"That's a good point," Aaron agreed. "Still, if we support him, I think he'll come around, eventually."

"I'm not going ask how long you think that's going to take, because you have no way of knowing, as every person is different," Dave sighed. "I wish Arya had been able to tell us more, though I'm grateful that she told us we were going to meet our last mate soon."

"She would have if she had that information," JJ gently chided Dave.

"Yes, I know," Dave agreed. "Now we had better get to sleep so that we're prepared for tomorrow. I think we're going to need all our wits about us."

The others agreed with that and so snuggled together Dave turning off the light with a quiet command, before snuggling into the middle of his mates and drifting off to sleep contentedly.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

"So you enjoy the opera, Spencer?" Dave asked.

"I did," Spencer answered honestly. "You didn't have to go in all that it expense for me though."

"Oh, it wasn't just for you as we do go sometimes," JJ told him. "We all like the arts, though Aaron didn't used to be too fond of the opera, but he's learned to enjoy it."

"I come from something of a high society family and let's just say I never learned to appreciate such things when I was younger," Aaron said. "I enjoy it now though."

"Most young boys aren't going to like going to something like the opera," Spencer said. "That type of appreciation usually comes when you get older. This isn't always the case of course, just most of the time."

"This is true, because you grow and mature and the stuff you like as a kid, changes," Dave said.

"So we'll just drop you off at your apartment and we'll see you likely in a few days," JJ said.

"Just call me, and I'll answer," Spencer said. "As I said my schedule is pretty much adjustable."

"Well then, what about the day after tomorrow?" Dave suggested. "This'll give us a day to spend with our kids, although they're in school for hours every day all except for Frank and Ashley who are too young."

"I'll be available," Spencer said. "I enjoyed myself more than I expected to today."

"Well good," JJ said smiling.

"You didn't expect to enjoy yourself?" Aaron asked.

"It's not that," Spencer assured his three dates quickly. "I just don't date much, because either I'm to nervous to ask somebody or I'm basically ignored. I've dated some, just not a lot. I've always been happy on my own."

"I don't think you've really been happy," Dave said shrewdly. "Content perhaps, but true happiness is taking joy in life, in having a family, a good job, friends, in other words, people to love and care for. I think you've been rather lonely, even if you haven't realized it, because everyone needs people in their life. Personally, from the few things you've told us I think you got a rather raw deal. I know I was content, even happy at times years before I met these two, as I had my parents and my siblings, but it was only after I found Aaron and then Jennifer that I became truly happy with my life. Having them in my life brings me great joy."

"The same goes for Aaron and I to," JJ told Spencer. "I grew up happily, as my parents were wonderful, but still, there's a difference between the happiness of a child or a teenager to settling down with someone or even several someone's as the case might be. I didn't really know what true happiness was until I met Dave and Aaron and had my children, as it's not something that you can really know anything about, even if you think you do, until you experience it for yourself. Sure, we argue sometimes, as that's part of any relationship and there are times of frustration and even boredom occasionally. However, that doesn't mean I'll give either of them up, because I would be living a much lesser life without them in it."

"So you don't find it unusual to be married to two different men?" Spencer asked curiously.

"Sure, I did at first," JJ admitted. "I mean I was raised in a traditional household with one mother and one father, but I met Aaron at Computer Wiz's and I was attracted to him instantly, but I saw he was wearing a wedding band so I believed I was out of luck. Then I met Dave and him in the Chicago History Museum and I was attracted to Dave as well which kind of took me by surprise at first, as I had never been so strongly attracted to two men at the same time. I admit I had been raised to believe in traditional marriages, one mother, one father, but by the time I met Dave and Aaron both my parents had died a few years ago, so I decided what the heck. When they offered to let me join their group, as apparently they were looking for another partner, well, I didn't actually jump at the chance, but I decided to give it a try at least. Let'd just say after we dated for awhile before we got married and I've never looked back since. I've been incredibly happy with both of them in my life, much happier than I suspect I would've been with just a single husband. Perhaps, if I had never known what having two such handsome, attentive, passionate men as my husbands was like then I would've been happy with just one. Besides, while they're not perfect they do many things that most men leave to their wives or girlfriends or sometimes the hired help, they do the laundry just as much as I do and since we have five children, plus three adults, well, four if you count Joan there's a lot of it. They also help with the dusting and the vacuuming and everything else that goes into cleaning a house, go grocery shopping as often as me and help look after the kids. I think I got off incredibly lucky personally, because they don't complain about helping me do the chores around our home and just pitch in when necessary. It takes a lot to keep a family of our size running smoothly, but we've got it down to a fine art now. Also I appreciate that I don't have to wear myself to the bone trying to do everything myself."

"Wow! That is so different from my own childhood that it's rather amazing," Spencer said once he was sure JJ was finished. "Half the time mom couldn't get my father to throw stuff in the recycler or load the dishwasher once he got home from work. All he wanted to do was his own thing watch screen, read the paper, take a nap that kind of thing. There was almost constant friction between them and I just tried to stay out-of-the-way. Really, he left all the housework to my mother, though she had a job of her own, as she was a professor for literature at Las Vegas University. Sure, I pitched in when I could to help her out, but as for my father... I learned how to wash clothes and fold laundry among other things at a very young age."

"Your father appeared to be rather unenlightened," Aaron suggested hoping he hadn't offended Spencer.

"That's one way of putting it," Spencer snorted the humor clear in his voice. "Unfortunately, people like my father still exist even in this century. Technology might have advanced and so has the human condition to where you can live to well over two hundred years now if you're lucky. Also lots of things like group marriages are more accepted now then they would have been centuries ago, but still, the human race remains basically the same and that's ornery, opinionated, and hard to deal with at the best of times. There will always be bullies, people who want what others have, but don't want to work for it and people who just plain don't care about others. I know there are also those who do care, who are kind, considerate, generous, compassionate, gentle and loving, so really the human race has it's bad people and it's good people and my father just happened to be one of the bad."

"Life would be rather boring if everyone behaved all the time," Dave suggested.

"True," Spencer agreed. "Humans just aren't wired for a perfect utopia, because if we were, so many types of illegal drugs wouldn't exist, nor would there be so many people out of work, no beggars or other people that live on the street. We would have solved such problems a long time ago, if they had existed in the first place."

"And unemployment would be nonexistent," JJ said.

"True, but there will always be those that like to take advantage of others," Dave said

The four of them chatted cordially until Dave pulled up at Spencer's apartment building.

"We'll see you in a couple of days," JJ said kissing Spencer's cheek causing him to blush.

"Yes, I'll see you Tuesday," Spencer agreed. "I really enjoyed myself today."

"We enjoyed ourselves to," Aaron smiled. He really wanted to kiss Spencer on the cheek as well, but he resisted, because he wasn't sure if their mate was ready for that as he had blushed a brilliant red, from the tips of his ears all the way to the back of his neck when JJ had kissed his cheek, though he had certainly seemed to enjoy the affection nonetheless.

Spencer exited the car and waved one final time before he entered his building.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

He was in love Spencer admitted. He wasn't sure how it had occurred, but he knew he was in love with Dave, JJ and Aaron. The four of them had been dating for months now and he had relaxed a great deal to where he always looked forward to their dates now. They had been to a lot of art shows, both for painting and photography, as Spencer liked to study the competition. They'd been into museums, to Planet Disney with the kids and various other places including private little bistros and other restaurants for lunch or dinner. Spencer knew that his self-confidence was rising and it was all due to Dave, Aaron and JJ, as they had a way of helping his self-esteem, giving him more confidence. They made him want to get out of his comfort zone.

His friend Derek Morgan had run a background check on them on his own violation once he had learned about the relationship for his own peace of mind and since all of them had come back clean he had decided not to interfere. He wanted to see his friend happy, settling down, having a few children. If these three could make him happy then he would accept their relationship, but if they hurt him Spencer knew exactly what his friend's response would be.

Spencer admitted that he had gone from nervousness about social situations to having more confidence so long as Aaron, Dave and JJ were at his side.

Derek had been rather surprised that Spencer had gotten involved with more than one person, as he didn't seem like the type, but on the other hand, if his boyfriends and girlfriend made him happy then he wasn't going to be unhappy with the situation.

Spencer still often wondered what had made Aaron, Dave and JJ latch on to him in the first place and why he was so intensely attracted to them, all three of them and not just one person within the group. He had never been so intensely attracted to anyone in his entire life, much less three someone's at the same time.

It was a puzzle he wasn't sure he could solve, because being intensely attracted to one person was possible as it happened all the time as it was just part of human instincts in finding the best possible mate, but three people at the same time? Spencer wasn't entirely sure that had ever happened before, though he was well aware it could have, but the odds against meeting three people that he had trouble controlling his mating instinct around and that were married to each other were astronomical. Not that it still wasn't possible.

He wasn't sure why he was so attracted to the three of them that he just wanted to jump their bones and had since the moment they met, but he was.

He had been rather shy and nervous at first, something he readily admitted to, but that was partly because he was trying to control his suddenly overactive libido. His libido had awakened with a vengeance and that was why he had wanted to bolt, because he had been afraid he was going to attack them right there in a public place and while their kids were nearby, as the attraction he had felt was a powerful force.

He was the master at controlling his emotions though, so he was sure he had successfully managed to hide the real reason he had wanted to bolt.

Now he knew he was in love with all three of them, but what should he do with this situation? Should he tell them? Spencer got nervous at the mere thought of admitting his feelings, but from all indications the other three felt the same so why was he so nervous? Because he had never told anybody he loved them before, except for his mother and that was a totally different situation, because that was a child's love for a parent not a romantic love. Spencer could see himself settling down with Dave, Aaron and JJ, perhaps having a few children by JJ before she got too old. Spencer felt that the three of them must have gotten married quite young to have five kids that appeared to be about two years apart, but then they could be older than they appeared to, because there were many ways to look young nowadays including sculpting, though none of them seemed the type to do that for vanity reasons.

JJ for example couldn't be that old because she'd had a child nearly three years ago now, so either that was the last child she was going to have or she was still young enough to have a few more. Spencer actually hoped that JJ was young enough to have at least one child by him, but he would see, because even if she wasn't while he would be disappointed he wasn't about to give them up.

He decided to take a giant leap of faith and tell Dave, Aaron and JJ his feelings, because he was nearly positive that he wasn't going to be rejected, because you don't date someone for eight months, if you're just going to break it off. He knew his mother would tell him to go with his feelings instead of listening to his brain, so he was going to listen to that piece of advice that she had told him so long ago.

He knew he was welcome at their house at anytime, although really it was more of a mansion, since it was far bigger and luxurious then most other houses. It was over 50,000 ft.² which was absolutely huge in this age, but then some of the richer families lived in such places. They had even suggested that he live with them, but he hadn't been ready for that and they had understood or seemed to at any rate.

Spencer grabbed his camera, which was something he was very rarely without no matter where he went and headed for the door before he could doubt his decision and not follow through.

Spencer walked into the house that was owned by Dave, Aaron and JJ a few minutes later. He had the codes for the alarm as well as a key. Spencer admitted that it would be very hard for someone to break into this house as it had the best alarm system that money could buy, so the chances were very slim that they would ever be robbed.

"Well, hey, we didn't expect to see you today," Aaron greeted, kissing him.

"Hey yourself," Spencer said returning the kiss smilingly. "I believe you told me I was welcome at any time and I just decided that I wanted to see all of you."

"And you are," Dave said coming out of the kitchen. "Since you're here why don't you stay for dinner."

"Sounds great," Spencer said, as he knew by now that Dave was a terrific cook and he wasn't about to turn down one of his homecooked meals, especially since he couldn't cook to save his life.

"So sit down relax dinner will be ready soon," Dave said smiling also kissing Spencer on the lips. "We're always happy to see you, though I do wish you'd agree to move in with us."

"I was just thinking about that earlier and I think I will," Spencer said.

Aaron and Dave stared at him in shock then whooped for joy.

"You will?" Aaron asked unable to believe what he was hearing, for Spencer had always insisted on maintaining his independence and therefore, a separate place of residence. If what he and Dave had heard was correct this was a big step for Spencer.

"I will," Spencer said a bit my firmly, as he couldn't say no to them because of the obvious joy on their faces. He wasn't about to announce his feelings though until JJ was also present, but by moving in with them that would tell the three of them that he did love them, because he had insisted on maintaining a separate residence until now. He did value his independence, but from all he had seen in the months they had been dating his independence would not be stifled. He would be free to come and go as he pleased, because the other three certainly did, though they were also a very tight unit, doing a lot of things together.

"Well, we'll set up a room for you then," Dave offered immediately. "Unless you're ready to take the last step and actually sleep is the same bed as us. We can set you up at dark room at the very least so you can develop your photographs and perhaps the studio where you can do you're work."

"Thanks, that would be appreciated," Spencer said gratefully.

"It's the least we can do," Aaron said.

"So where is JJ?" Spencer asked casually.

"She and the kids went shopping for clothes," Aaron answered. "You ought to know that kids outgrow their clothes fast at their age and it's just that time again. Joan went with them to help with the shopping and to keep an eye on the kids."

"They should be home soon though, because dinner will be ready in half an hour and JJ didn't say anything about being gone for it," Dave said. "She'll call though if they're going to be longer, but they can always go back, so that's doubtful."

"Besides, school starts again pretty soon and the kids always get new clothes around this time of year," Aaron shrugged.

"So it's just the three of us then," Spencer said.

"Yes, because we didn't need to go along, as JJ and Joan can handle our five kids while clothes shopping," Dave said.

You didn't go with them?" Spencer teased them.

"We hate clothes shopping and if we can avoid it we will," Dave told Spencer who nodded, for he was well aware of it.

"We can do it, as we did before we met JJ, but she's nice enough to do it for us and is always bringing us new shirts or underwear or pants," Aaron said

"She knows what we like, so we don't have to worry about doing that anymore," Dave added. "We still do our own shoe shopping though, because you never know what's going to fit the best or what's going to be the most comfortable."

"Well, I don't really like to shop for clothes either," Spencer said. "I don't care about being fashionable, so I never go clothes shopping until they're worn out."

"If you join us there's no way that JJ is going to let you walk around in clothes that are a way past their prime or not in style," Aaron grinned. "She wants both Dave and I to look our best unless we're just staying around the house and since what she buys is comfortable we don't really mind so much."

Spencer groaned at that then thought that at least JJ would be picking his clothes for him so that he didn't have to do it himself, so he supposed it was a small sacrifice.

"You'll get used to the way we do things," Dave said not unsympathetically. "I had better get back to the kitchen before my food burns."

"Well, we can continue our conversation in the kitchen then," Aaron said.

All three of them trooped to the kitchen, so they could talk while Dave cooked.

"You'll need to give us a list of the equipment you'll need for your dark room," Dave said, as he returned to cooking.

"I have all the equipment..." Spencer started to say.

"And how long has it been since you bought anything new?" Aaron asked. "I'm sure there's been some advancements, since you bought all your equipment."

"Well, never, I wouldn't have been able to afford it until recently," Spencer admitted. "I bought all that was required a piece at a time as I could afford it and until then I just rented a dark room. I need certain chemicals, but I also need a computer, to keep accounts on what I sell."

Spencer ran over everything he would need and Aaron wrote it all down while Dave cooked.

"The room needs to be completely dark no light coming up under the door, no windows at all or they need tight shutters on them that won't let any light through," Spencer said.

"There're plenty of empty rooms where we can remove the furniture and put it in storage ones that don't have any windows," Dave said. "This place is humongous after all, and we'll never fill all rooms with children, so we might as well put some of them to another purpose."

"Why own such a big place anyway?" Spencer asked looking around. "I would think it cost a fortune to maintain. I'm not saying you can't afford it..."

"A lot of wealthy folks own houses bigger than they really need," Aaron interrupted, shrugging. "It's a status symbol so to speak and while we don't care about that, we do care about our privacy. We bought this place because of the privacy and while we have neighbors they're not too close by. We also own plenty of acres so the children can run and play although we still take them on outings and things or Joan does."

"Here we're not bothered by nosy people," Dave said, even as he paid attention to his cooking. "People respect others privacy in this particular neighborhood, mostly because most of these places are owned by wealthy folks."

"They are also several other group marriages just like ours, except one of them has two women and two men."

"A group marriage like ours is more accepted here then it might be in another neighborhood, because while it's quite normal to be married to two, three or even four people nowadays, some people still don't like it," Aaron said

"The schools are also first rate," Dave added. "The school deals with bullying quite severely unlike the public ones. It's a privilege to go to this school as the parents have to pay to enroll their children, so things are handled much differently than they would be in a public venue."

"I see," Spencer said absorbing what he had learned.

"We have the money to send our children to a private school and live where we want to with lots of privacy," Aaron said. "We won't allow our children to become snobs though, as we're teaching them better. We're teaching them to respect other people and that just because they have money is no reason to look down on anyone, no matter their position in life, their sexual orientation or the money they have in the bank. Believe me, I've seen what happens when somebody has a lot a money as a lot of times it seems to make people believe that they're better than those who don't have as much. Better then those who have to work hard to support their family or themselves, those who made their wealth instead of inheriting it. Those who inherited their money often look down on people who are self-made, not always, just a lot of times."

"Our home is soundproofed as well so whatever we do won't be heard by the neighbors," Dave said, grinning as he mentioned that.

"Well, yes, soundproofing is common in this part of town," Spencer said.

"But it also means nobody can hear it when we want to make love, not even our children if we have the door firmly shut," Aaron grinned.

Spencer blushed at Aaron's words for he had thought of little else, ever since he had realized that he really did love the three of them and actually before that realization it had been on his mind. He just knew that making love to them for the first time would be spectacular, or rather them making love to him, but he said nothing as he was still waiting for JJ to get home.

Just then the door opened and there was the sound of laughter.

"Come on, kids, I'm sure that dinner is almost ready," came JJ's voice.

"You're just in time," Aaron said, as he stood in the kitchen doorway. "You have time to wash up and that's about it. We also have a guest for dinner."

JJ looked at Aaron and he winked at her and she knew immediately that Spencer was here a rather unexpected bonus as he had never visited by himself before, even though he was always welcome.

"Go on kids, go wash up," JJ told her five offspring in a gentle tone.

JJ watched as the kids headed to the downstairs bathroom to wash their hands so they could join their family for dinner and once they were out of sight JJ entered the kitchen.

"Well, this is a pleasant surprise," JJ said, as she kissed Spencer on the cheek, making him blush.

"Spencer here has agreed to move in with us," Dave told JJ and Joan, as she to entered the kitchen, just as he was placing the food on the table.

"You have?" JJ squealed excitedly causing Joan to smile.

Joan was well aware that her employers as well as her friends were not exactly mortal, as you couldn't hide that kind of thing for very long when you lived with someone, not if you were at all observant anyway. They had told her the truth once she had noticed several odd things and she'd had a hard time believing it at first until they had proved it to her. She supposed she really shouldn't've been surprised, because magic and magic users were real after all, so why not immortals? They were generous employers and also very kind, so she was happy to be working for them to help look after the children. She got plenty of time to herself to go visit her sister or just do her own thing. She had to swear to never reveal their secret and that was something she was happy to do. It was hard to believe that Dave had been born in the early 20th century and Aaron in the 22nd, JJ by contrast was the baby of the group and had only been around for just over a 140 years. The children would also be immortal of course and she knew that Spencer would be to once he agreed to join them.

She could be too if she wanted for they had offered, but she had turned them down, although she would certainly miss this family once she retired, but she would do so with a large bank account, because the three of them were very generous employers and not at all stingy with their money.

"I thought it was time," Spencer smiled. "I know I won't be losing my independence if I join you as you proved that to me. Besides, I see you practically everyday now anyway, for at least a few hours, so it just seems more practical to move in, you know?"

"You actually thought you were going to lose your independence?" JJ asked in astonishment.

Spencer shrugged, but didn't answer.

"It has a lot to do with the way he was raised," Dave told JJ and Joan.

JJ nodded at this, but Joan didn't really have any idea about Spencer's past.

"My childhood wasn't exactly happy," Spencer told Joan.

Joan nodded, for she could guess what kind of childhood Spencer had been through considering he had been so awkward around strangers until he had gotten to know them. He had gotten a lot better Joan knew and he would continue to improve so long as he had the support of the three most important people in his life. This wasn't the first time she had seen his type of behavior, as she was well into her 50s, but still, had the energy of someone in their 30s.

"Alright, everyone eat up," Dave ordered with a smile.

Everyone dug into their dinner including the kids who made yummy noises over the delicious food, though they were well used to it, because Dave was such a good cook.

"Well, it looks like dinner is kid approved, as they are certainly gobbling it up," Spencer smiled.

"Who doesn't like spaghetti and garlic bread," JJ asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Some people don't like tomato sauce," Spencer told her, "but I'm certainly not one of them." He dug into his own dinner to prove his point. "I think we need to have a discussion after dinner."

"Oh?" Aaron asked perking up at that rather mysterious statement.

"I'll tell you after the meal," Spencer said. "Joan, you are welcome to join us if you want, as I know that these three don't keep any secrets from you."

"Thanks, but I think I'll just make sure the kids don't get into mischief while you're having your discussion. You can tell me all about it later if you want."

"Yes, Joan knows everything, because it would be kind of hard to keep secrets when you're living together," JJ said. "She's been like a grandma to the kids anyway."

"I raised my own kids years ago, so I know how to keep children in line, but these five are good kids for the most part. I'm not saying they don't get into a little trouble now and then, because all kids their age do, but it's mostly just minor mischief," Joan said.

All of them finished dinner in record time and then Joan herded the five kids out of the kitchen and towards the stairs.

"Let's go into the living room where we can all be comfortable," JJ suggested. "Cleanup can wait until afterwards."

"Alright," Dave agreed and Aaron just nodded.

The four of them trooped out of the kitchen and towards the living room, which was very comfortably appointed, Dave making sure he brought one of the smaller kitchen knives with him just in case, for he had a feeling that they were about to let Spencer in on their secret.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~


	9. Chapter 9

Part 9

"So what did you want to discuss, Spence?" JJ asked.

Spencer took a deep breath to try to get rid of what felt like 1000 butterflies in his stomach and then said, "Well, I realized today that I've fallen in love with all three of you and I wanted to tell you before I lost my nerve. I know my feelings have been building for awhile, since the moment we met actually, but I didn't realize that I truly had fallen in love with you until today."

The three stared stared at him in astonishment, for they had figured that Spencer would be too shy to ever admit his feelings for them. On the other hand, he had changed a great deal since they had met as there relationship seemed to boost Spencer's self-confidence, but then being in love with people that accepted you, no matter what type of baggage you came with had a lot to do with it they knew.

"So does that mean you'll accept our offer?" JJ asked. "That you'll become a permanent part of our family. I would love to have at one child by you just like I did with Dave and Aaron."

"I've been wanting children for a few years now," Spencer admitted blushing. "I just never figured I'd find anyone that I'd be willing to settle down with. I've never even taken out one of those temporary contracts with anyone to see if we were suitable."

"I hope you know that we love you too," Aaron said and Dave nodded in agreement.

"Absolutely," Dave said. "We fell in love with you that day in the park, but we were just waiting for you to realize your feelings."

"You can't fall in love that fast," Spencer blinked in astonishment.

"Oh, yes, you can," Dave said. "Most of time it's just lust I admit, but we all knew the minute we saw you that you were the one, the one to complete our family."

"Alright, I can understand one of you feeling that way, but all three of you?" Spencer asked his expression puzzled. "That definitely goes against logic and statistics."

"There is a reason for it though," JJ said.

"What kind of logical reason could there be?" Spencer asked, curiously.

"How much weirdness are you prepared to accept?" Aaron asked.

"It depends on what you mean," Spencer said refusing to give a more definite answer.

"Well, you do know that the supernatural does exist since magicals are part of everyday life," Dave said.

"Yes, that's true. So are you telling me this runs along the same lines?" asked Spencer.

"Yes, it does," JJ said.

"Alright, lay it on me then, but you better be able to prove what you say," Spencer said.

JJ, Dave and Aaron glanced to each other and two of them nodded at Dave, which was a signal for him to start, because after all, he was the one that had actually been born immortal while they had not.

Dave started to speak to tell Spencer all about Immortals and how they had been around for centuries.

Spencer looked disbelieving, but he had been studying their body language and facial expressions and as far as he could tell they weren't lying.

"I know how hard it is to believe, we all do," Dave said. "JJ or Aaron for that matter didn't want to believe it at first either, as they were just as mortal as you were at one point, while I was the only one that was actually born immortal. When they agreed to join me I turned them into what I am and I'll tell you how we do that, but before I do why don't I give you a demonstration?"

"What do you plan on doing?" Spencer asked suddenly worried. He was trying to decide if the three people he had fallen in love with were pulling his leg, were insane or just delusional, but the thing was he was pretty good at telling when somebody was lying as he had learned as a defense mechanism and he was 97 percent positive that these three weren't lying.

"Don't worry so much, Dave will be just fine," JJ promised. "Neither Aaron or I would let him go through with this if we didn't already know that."

"Definitely not," Aaron said firmly.

Dave said nothing and simply put down some newspaper to make sure he didn't get the priceless Persian carpet all bloody and then calmly slashed his palm as deeply as he could without hitting bone.

Before Spencer could say a word or call for an ambulance or react in anyway suddenly he noticed that Dave's hand was healing rapidly, the wound was shrinking and finally disappeared without even a scar to show for it, even though Dave's hand was covered in blood.

Spencer blinked rapidly for what seemed like forever, but was really only a few seconds trying to absorb what he had seen.

"We know this is a big shock," JJ said gently. "Believe me, Joan was just as shocked as you are now when she first learned."

"So Joan knows?" Spencer said feeling as if his brain had gone on the fritz.

"Yeah, she does, although we never intended to tell her," Aaron said. "It just kind of happened."

"She noticed several odd things going on in the first year or so that she worked for us, like when I cut myself on accident when I was cooking dinner. I'm usually not so clumsy, but I certainly was that day. Anyway, she happened to be helping me and noticed. She was about to wrap it up and a bandage when it started to heal in front of her eyes. We kind of had to tell her after that," Dave explained. "She isn't one to dismiss what she saw as an illusion or something that's easily explained away like most people. A lot of people don't believe what the eyes tell them if it has to do with something they consider abnormal. They'll claim that they saw things or that they must've imagined it."

"She also noticed how we got bruises or something after a workout and how they healed quickly, too quickly, within a few minutes actually. The sparing droid actually cracked the bones in my cheek once, because I didn't get out of the way in time and Joan wanted to take me to the emergency room, but I told her that I was fine and I was. About ten minutes later it was as if I had never been hurt in the first place as even the bruise faded," Aaron added.

"We should have known that living so closely with someone that any secrets were bound to come out into the open, but on the other hand, we managed to keep ourselves from being discovered with other nannies we've hired," Dave said.

"Joan is just more observant that's all, she's more family then the others were," JJ told Dave who clearly agreed with that statement.

"The others were just employees, but never came close to being family, not that we didn't treat them well or anything," Dave agreed.

"That's because we had to keep secrets from them and we never would've told Joan if she hadn't noticed things," Aaron said. "When you know somebody's biggest secret they either become family or you kill them to keep them from blabbing."

"So Joan is human like me," Spencer said.

"We offered to turn her, but she turned us down," Aaron said. "It was her choice, but we'll miss her when she's gone whether that's to retirement or death."

"You know they're legends about people who supposedly live forever," Spencer said suddenly remembering some old documents he had read, while in college. "I read some ancient documents when I was in college and I took them as just an old legend that wasn't real, but perhaps it was talking about your people."

"What's the college?" Dave asked.  
"Columbia College, the one in Chicago," Spencer answered.

"I believe that college was actually started by one of our kind," Dave said after thinking about it. "Established around 1890 I believe."

Spencer blinked at that, because it had never occurred to him that Immortals might actually have started businesses or colleges or anything else that had been around for centuries. He knew that if he had time to think about it he would have come to the conclusion that immortals were basically the same as mortals, except that they didn't age past 30 and healed quickly from even serious injuries. Something he had just seen proof of as Dave's hand had healed right in front of his eyes from an extremely deep gash.

"So how do you turn someone immortal?" Spencer asked.

"Through sex," Aaron told Spencer bluntly and watched as a deep blush made it's way all over Spencer's face, the back of his neck and even to the tips of his ears.

"You need to absorb our seed as it carries our genetics, our lifeforce, what makes us immortal, but then so does our blood," Dave told Spencer, thinking it rather adorable that Spencer blushed whenever the subject of sex came up. Dave knew very well that Spencer wasn't one to talk about that kind of thing and he also knew that had a lot to do with his upbringing, as his father certainly hadn't done anything to instill confidence into his son or to help him establish his sexual identity, so it was no wonder he was so shy about talking about that particular subject.

That problem could be solved with a lot of support, which Dave intended to give him and he knew JJ and Aaron would as well without having to ask.

"So how long does the process take?" Spencer asked next.

"Well, it depends on how much we have sex where we actually penetrate you," Dave told him matter-of-factly. "If we do it several times a day with both of us it probably won't be more than 3 to 4 months tops."

"One of us needs to penetrate you at least once a day though, so that the process isn't interrupted," Aaron added and watched as Spencer struggled not to blush again.

"Well, it's certainly pleasant way to turn someone immortal," Spencer said.

"Definitely," JJ and Aaron said at the same time.

"JJ and I certainly enjoyed the process," Aaron added with a mischievous wink.

"Yes, we did," JJ agreed also mischievously. "I got pregnant with triplets not long afterwards actually. Two of them turned out to be Dave's and the other was Aaron's, as we had a DNA test done, not that it really mattered, but we were curious. Also we both knew the information might come in useful later for whatever reason."

Spencer blinked at that for he was learning a lot of things now and it was a lot to absorb even for him.

"So you said something about blood earlier," Spencer asked Dave after a few moments.

"You can also turn someone immortal by them drinking our blood," Dave told him and Spencer winced. "I would never cheat on Aaron or JJ and now you, so when I offered to turn Joan into an immortal that's the method I would have employed. It's not very pleasant according to JJ's son Henry, who she got pregnant with before she met Aaron and then myself. Like Joan we gave Henry the choice as to whether or not to be turned immortal once he was old enough to be told that his parents weren't exactly mortal."

"I'm so glad he accepted," JJ said with deep feeling.

"So are we, because my name is on his birth certificate, even though he's not my son by blood, though he certainly is the son of my heart," Aaron said. "I think next time though we should try to use needles with our blood and put it directly into someone's veins, as I would think that would be the faster method and that way no one would actually have to drink the blood."

"But what about blood type? You know A, A-, A+, AB and so forth," Spencer asked.

"That doesn't matter with immortal blood, which is why we never go to doctor unless they are also immortal," JJ told Spencer.

"We have a code that tells an immortal that someone is one of their kind with nobody recognizing it that isn't in the know. We use symbols, symbols that every immortal child is taught, so they'll know when someone is immortal," Dave said. "Really the symbols aren't used anymore and very few recognize their meaning, unless they're also immortal. This is the way that immortals have been identifying each other for thousands of years."

"We'll teach you the code, although not for awhile as you have a lot to absorb before we get around to that, but I have no doubt you'll pick it up quickly," Aaron said.

"We should've thought about using needles when Henry had to drink all that nasty blood," JJ said. "I remember how much he complained about it and said he would never put anybody else through that process. Injecting the blood directly into the vein would certainly make the process faster then just drinking it did."

"It doesn't matter now, as he will no longer be able to age and it's a good thing because he'd be an old man by now or possibly even dead," Dave said. "Aaron and I consider Henry our firstborn son and it doesn't matter that he wasn't conceived by either of us."

"So are you still willing to join us?" Aaron asked finally trying not to let his anxiety show. "We know we should have told you about this sooner, but none of us thought you were ready to accept our explanation, even though supernatural things such as magic exist, as you can be very logical. There's nothing wrong with this, but it does make it harder to accept the supernatural or the paranormal, especially if it's not part of your every day life."

"I understand why you didn't tell me sooner," Spencer said finally coming to a decision. "I'm not entirely sure I would have accepted your story so well if I didn't know you, not even with a demonstration. If you had told me before I had gotten to know you, before I had fallen in love with you, well, I'm not sure what I would've done actually, but I likely would've broken it off, so your instincts were correct. I kept wondering why I felt so attracted to all three of you, because logically I knew that shouldn't have happened. Normally, people have to get to know each other before they fall in love and usually that's only one person and not three at the same time. I'm not saying instant attraction doesn't exist, because of course it does, just that's with one person not three. Sometimes people are lucky and meet someone that they know instantly they can settle down with for life, because something just snaps into place where they both know that the other is the one and they don't have to worry about getting a divorce but that doesn't happen too often. To answer your question yes, I'll happily join you, as I know I'll never feel the same way I do about anyone that I do about the three of you, even if it took me months to recognize my feelings and how fast they developed. I would like you to meet my mother at least, although that can wait a month or so anyway. As for my father, he's a nonissue, because even if we were close he would never approve of my relationship with two men as well as a woman. Besides, as selfish as it is of me, I'd like to keep you to myself for a little longer. I haven't even written about you in any of the letters I've written to mom, which is pretty unusual because I usually tell her everything."

"We'd be happy to meet your mother," Dave's said with a wide smile getting up from where he was sitting, helping Spencer to his feet, so he could take him into his arms the other two joining him, until Spencer was in the middle of a three-way hug with him at the center.

Spencer felt so loved it that moment he nearly burst into tears of happiness, but managed to contain his emotions.

"Let us make love to you," Dave requested, although he really wanted to be demanding, but didn't want to lose the progress he had gained. "I want to start the process of turning you immortal as soon as possible, but it's your decision. If you're not ready for that we won't do so until you are."

"I think I've made you wait long enough," Spencer said smiling feeling happier then he ever had. "I know very well what you've been feeling since I've been feeling the same, even if I didn't know why until a few minutes ago. I'm not sure how you stopped from jumping my bones or me doing the same to you considering how much time we spent together."

"It wasn't easy, not with as many hours as we spent together, practically all day, every day," Aaron admitted candidly, "but it had to be your choice, as you're not immortal after all. If you had been then you would have known what that pull signified and I doubt you would have been reluctant to have sex with any of us."

"Probably not," Spencer said after some consideration.

"It's also likely that your childhood would've been much better since most immortals do love their children unconditionally for the most part. Your father for instance would never have abandoned your mother and your mom definitely never would've come down with schizophrenia, because she would have been like us and immortals can't get illness of any kind."

"If that's the case there would've been no reason for my father to have left my mother," Spencer said his voice just a tad wistful.

"There was no reason for you father to abandon your mother this time either," Aaron told Spencer firmly. "If your mother had cheated on your father or started taking illegal drugs I could've understood his reactions, but she had a genuine illness. I have met a few immortals over the years that aren't exactly very nice to their mates, but for the most part at least when it comes to loving their families, they do so unconditionally. I have to admit though that when most immortals settle down they've met their mate, so since that's a case that's definitely the reason that our kind are much better parents for the most part, although that's not always the case."

"Still, I suspect that if you wanted to do a study and come up with some statistics you would find that Immortals are much better parents, because they don't abandon their children," JJ said.

"Well, since you're ready why don't we head upstairs," Dave suggested eagerly changing the subject back to what it was originally. "All of us have been waiting for this for nearly 8 months now and the sooner we start the process the happier I'll be. Tomorrow or probably in a couple of days we can move all your stuff over here as we certainly have the room. If possible I plan on keeping you in bed for a considerable length of time, with breaks for food, sleep and to use the bathroom."

"I'm looking forward to it," Spencer admitted honestly, though he couldn't help blushing again, as he imagined making love for days. Sex for him had always been quick and necessary, but never really for enjoyment, but he had a feeling that was about to change.

"We'll have to check on the kids at regular intervals as well, spend some time with them, but other than that..." JJ said.

"That's true, as we don't want them to feel neglected," Aaron said.

"Just as soon as you're immortal Spence I want you to get me pregnant. In fact, if possible I want to have one from each of you," JJ said.

"Well, I don't think we've ever deliberately tried to have multiples before, it just sort of happens," Dave said in an amused tone.

"It should be possible though with recent advances in medical technology, particularly in obstetrics," JJ said. "We could even have Zola deliberately take some of my eggs and mix it with all three of your sperms and then plant the embryos into my uterus, but I'd rather do this naturally if possible."

"We'll all take turns," Dave decided. "Give it a day at least, so that one of your eggs possibly gets fertilized and then repeat with the second partner and then the third."

"We need to wait about two weeks after your menstrual cycle, as that will be when your most fertile," Spencer told JJ blushing the whole time.

"How do you know that?" Aaron gently teased him.

"Because I read everything and I do have several doctorates, even if I decided on photography as a profession," Spencer told everyone. "I remember everything I've read because of my eidetic memory."

"Well, that's interesting information and that should help me get pregnant then," JJ mused. "I probably should've read some books on pregnancy a long time ago, but it never occurred to me, possibly because I had no trouble conceiving and having multiples was always an accident, never planned."

"Not that we were disappointed or anything when it did happen," Dave grinned.

"Definitely not," Aaron said.

"If we can manage to pull this off, that means eight children to take care of," Spencer told them. "Three of whom will be the same age."

"If you're asking if we are sure we can handle that many the answer is yes," JJ said. "We have any number of friends, family and acquaintances we can call on if necessary including Dave's parents."

"We also have a nanny droid that we rarely use because we don't like them much," Dave added. "Technology is all well and good, but not all advancements are good ones. However, in this case I think we can make an exception so long as one of us is there as backup. Droids are tireless after all, and can keep an eye on them at least at night and feed them by bottle."

"Alright then, if you're sure," Spencer said.

"We have had that many children at one time," JJ told Spencer, "although I admit that they were not multiples and therefore, spaced further apart. Twins or triplets usually just happen on accident and aren't planned for. I suppose it just depends on how enthusiastically we go at it and for how long."

"Well, technically, a woman's eggs are viable for up to 72 hours, then they begin to degrade," Spencer said. "Now, normally, a woman only releases one egg, but some of them release more than one and it usually depends on family history, health, age etc."

"No multiples run in my family as far as I know, but I was 32 when I was turned immortal," JJ said.

"That's of around the age a lot of women start releasing more than one egg, though some start releasing more then one egg sooner or later then is average of course," Spencer said.

"We can discuss this later," Aaron said. "I for one am more than ready to make love to you and I definitely know that Dave and JJ are. All of us have been waiting so long."

"Let's head upstairs then," Spencer said in as calm a tone as he could manage, though underneath it the other three could hear the nerves. At his command Dave grinned ecstatically and led the way to the stairs to the second floor.

"Let me just go tell Joan that we're going to be busy for awhile," JJ said. "I'll be right back."

JJ watched her mates enter their bedroom and then walked down the hall to inform Joan of their plans.

By the time she got back just a few minutes later all three of her favorite men were buck naked causing JJ to literally drool for they had to be some of the most handsomest specimens on or off planet. She was well used to Aaron and Dave's naked bodies by now and the way their cocks were already full, standing tall and proud, just waiting to be pushed into her pussy, but Spencer was a different matter altogether. She had already known that he was tall and slim, but he also had muscles in his arms and legs so he likely worked out or maybe it came from hauling all that camera equipment around.

Spencer was blushing from head to toe, as JJ looked at him with lust in her expression. Of course, he had done the same when he had just removed his clothes in front of Dave and Aaron, but at least they were the same sex and while this wasn't the first woman who had ever seen him naked he still didn't have much experience.

JJ got out of her clothes without a word and Spencer's blush deepened considerably.

"Well, let's get started," Dave said grinning from ear to ear. "Considering this is your first time with us I want you to lay on the bed on your back," Dave added looking at Spencer.

The bed was a very expensive gel and had been custom made so that it would fit four people comfortably without anyone falling off the edge. Dave had thought about doing this after they had met Spencer as they had all hoped that he would be joining them. The box springs and the mattress had also had to be custom made.

Spencer did so and hoped fervently that he could stop blushing every time he saw one of them naked as it was embarrassing to blush so easily. He knew intellectually that once he gained a little experience in that area that the subject likely wouldn't embarrass him anymore nor would he blush at the sight of their naked bodies if only because he was used to them.

"I'm going to enter you first if that's okay with you and Aaron can go after me," Dave told Spencer, his tone calm, but there was lust, as well as a deep abiding love in his dark brown eyes and in his expression.

"I don't really care what order you go in," Spencer said eagerly. "I just want you to get on with it."

Dave smiled at Spencer tenderly at that statement, kissing his lips gently before he was suddenly very busy. His hands were absolutely everywhere as were his lips, his tongue and even his teeth. Spencer whimpered, groaned and purred, as felt as if his body was literally on fire, but it was a pleasant kind of fire that seemed to seep into his bones, warming him to his core. It didn't take long for Spencer to start to plead and then beg when he felt 2 more pairs of lips, tongues and hands join the first. Distantly Spencer knew that Aaron and JJ had joined Dave in pleasantly torturing him. Apparently, Aaron and JJ weren't going to be left out, even if it was going to be Dave who entered him for the first time. Once he felt completely boneless Aaron helped him lift his legs to where they were soon hooked over Dave's shoulders.

Dave was swift, but gentle as he pushed his cock into Spencer, after slathering it with lube, an inch at a time. Finally he was all the way inside and once he was he pulled himself partway out before he slammed himself in again. It didn't take more than a few thrusts for him to release himself into Spencer's body for the first time. Dave felt the connection began to form immediately.

While Dave was busy JJ and Aaron hadn't stopped their sensual assault and used every trick they had learned over the years to bring their final mate as much pleasure as they possibly could. Aaron even sucked on his balls, taking each one into his mouth, acting as if they were candy.

By the time they were all done Spencer felt as if he was nothing but a sack skin, with no bones or nerves or structure.

Spencer opened his eyes as he felt Dave move after he had pulled his cock out of his body and placed his legs gently back to the bed. Suddenly Aaron was hovering over him smiling lustfully and Spencer suddenly knew that this intense sexual experience was far from over and he was looking forward to it. They apparently weren't going to give him much time to recover, before they made his body sing again.

Spencer had always had sex out of a necessary need for release, not because he had enjoyed it or at least not enough to do it very often. His previous partners had always said that he had the sex appeal of a stick of wood, but Spencer now knew it was because he hadn't cared about them like he did about Dave, Aaron and JJ. His previous partners had been handsome enough, but he hadn't really had feelings beyond a little lust for any of them, but what he felt for these three was in a different stratosphere altogether.

Spencer felt his legs being lifted again and a second later they were hooked over Aaron's shoulders, so that his backside was again in the the air and Aaron was immediately plunging his cock into him while Dave and JJ made love to his chest, his stomach, his hips and anywhere they could reach, Dave even going so far as to lick in between each toe, kissing each digit. JJ for her part concentrated on his neck and shoulders, kissing along the side of his neck, sucking on the sensitive skin in several different areas before moving to the top of his shoulders, licking and kissing the skin.

Finally Aaron released himself into his body and by the time the three of them were done Spencer felt every inch of his skin tingling pleasantly.

"That was damn spectacular," Spencer said finally once he was sure he could actually speak. His body started to feel more normal after a few minutes, but his skin was still tingling pleasantly.

"I hope we didn't overdo it," Dave told Spencer looking a little worried. "We've just been waiting so long..."

"Don't fret so much," Spencer said, kissing Dave to cut off his words. "I loved everything you just did to me and I'm hoping you'll plan on repeating it sometime. Believe me, you won't be getting any complaints from me. I still feel rather boneless and my skin still tingling. I've never been made to feel so loved in all my life."

"Good," Aaron said pleased.

"You gave my body quite workout, so I might be a little tender and sore, but it is so worth it," Spencer said. "Feel free to get a little overenthusiastic anytime you want."

"I'm so glad," Dave said his expression turning from worried to smug.

"Once we give you a few minutes to recover, I believe that we'll give your body another workout," JJ said.

"That's fine with me," Spencer said smiling goofily at the thought.

"We're all so glad that you took us up on our offer," Aaron said, as he kissed Spencer tenderly on the side of his neck, directly over the pulse point.

"I wasn't entirely sure why you were so interested in me at first, but if Immortals have several mates and I was one of yours, well then, that explains it," Spencer said

"Spencer! Stop putting yourself down!" Dave ordered his voice sharp, but commanding.

Spencer looked startled and a little hurt, but then Dave said in a calmer tone.

"Anybody would be damn lucky to have you, as a spouse and anybody who doesn't realize that, well, that's their loss. We would've been interested in you, even if you weren't one of our mates and even if we weren't immortal. You would've found someone who knew how to look past the surface of things eventually to see the kind, compassionate, brilliant man underneath. Believe me, if I ever get my hands on your father he's going regret ever being born, so it's just as well that he lives so far away."

Spencer blinked at that and realized that he had been putting himself down, something he knew he did a lot unconsciously, which was why Dave had spoken so sharply, as he wouldn't stand for that apparently. Dave was saying that if only his father had been a real parent to him he'd have more confidence in himself, and likely wouldn't consider himself plain or too intelligent or to boring. Spencer was well aware that his childhood hadn't exactly been normal with his sick mother and a neglectful father. His mother loved him he knew, but she hadn't been able to do so many things because of her illness. Also Dave's expression told Spencer everything he needed to know about what his mate would like to do to the man that he shared DNA with and that made him feel all warm and good inside.

"We ought to go up to Las Vegas, find him and beat him up at the very least, teach him a lesson," Aaron said his expression fierce, his dark eyes sparking with fury.

"Let's just let things lie," Spencer said. "I haven't seen my father in over 20 years and I have no intention of ever seeing him again. Yes, I know that my childhood could've been very different, but it wasn't. However, you've got to realize that thanks to the three of you I've already changed so much. I've never been so happy in my life than I have been in the eight months that we've been going out. I might wish I had realized my feelings for all of you sooner, but it's not like I've ever been in love before, so it's no wonder I didn't realize it."

"You've realized it now and that's all that matters," JJ said, both Dave and Aaron nodding in agreement, their expressions softening.

"Yes, perhaps, if you'd been raised in a different environment you would've had more confidence in your feelings for us, there's really no way of knowing," Aaron said.

"It doesn't really matter now," Dave said finally. "You're ours now and we will be happy to marry you just as soon as you're ready."

"We can get married, can't we?" Spencer said blinking, as that thought hadn't even occurred to him though it would have at some point he knew.

"Yes, we can," JJ grinned enthusiastically. "I married these two and I've been happy ever since."

"But you've been married for decades now and that will show up on the computer system," Spencer asked worriedly.

"Yes we've been married for a good long time," Dave agreed easily.

"But we know an expert computer hacker, by the name of Penelope Garcia, who is also immortal, and who is at our beck and call," Aaron added grinning.

"We simply change our data every 50 or 100 years," Dave said

"We do this because it makes it easier to get passports and visas to live in another country," JJ told Spencer, "and also just in case somebody wants to look up our history for whatever reason."

"And it makes it easier to stay under the radar, which wouldn't have been necessary before the age of technology," Dave said.

"I never thought about how difficult it must be for immortals to live in this age of technology," Spencer said, as he absorbed the information he had just received.

"Yes, our friend Penny is very popular," JJ said smiling. "She gets paid a bundle for her services by any immortal who uses her to do a whole new background for them. This is how she makes her money mostly, though I believe she also invests what she does get and just like all immortals she has multiple discreet accounts, at discrete institutions, but then any immortal with any sense does."

"This means that she can stay home and look after her children if she and her mates have any at the time and still do something she enjoys that brings in money," Aaron grinned.

"Well, I guess you might as well make money off something you enjoy doing if you can," said Spencer smiling.

"Yeah, you should. Penelope is one of the best hackers in the world," JJ agreed. "Aaron here carves the most realistic pieces out of wood and they sale like hot cakes if you know where to market that kind of thing. He even does furniture tables and chairs."

"And has his own workshop out back," Dave said.

"It's just something I discovered I had over the last few decades," Aaron said. "I doubt if I had remained mortal if I ever would've discovered this talent as I probably would've had a job I hated. Even if I was lucky and had a job I actually loved, well, I probably wouldn't've had time to even think about such things. I just started fiddling with a piece of wood and a knife, kind of just messing around, you know? I realized after awhile though that I had true talent and as a bonus any cuts I get on my fingers heal immediately."

"We all try new things occasionally, as it keeps life rather interesting," Dave told Spencer who nodded as that made sense.

"It's more of a hobby than anything else, because while it does bring in money I don't do that many pieces a month as I have my life and my family to enjoy and it's not like I need the money, so really it's just for enjoyment," Aaron said.

"Well, the gallery you sell them at sure does appreciate when you do bring in a few of your smaller pieces," JJ grinned, as she kissed Aaron's cheek.

"And why not? Aaron is talented and they get a nice commission, whenever a piece sales," Dave said.

"I've had plenty of time to develop the talent over the last 20 or 30 years, Aaron grinned.

"And unlike painting for example nobody is going to notice the style if you sell pieces decades apart, in totally different cities," JJ said.

"Well, you learn something new every day," Spencer said smiling. "Now though you're welcome to get back to what you were doing a few minutes ago as I think I have sufficiently recovered."

"We'll be happy to," Aaron grinned happily.

"I think a nice long soak in our whirlpool bath will do all of us a world of good, especially for Spencer so he can soak his probably sore muscles after we are done," Dave added smiling.

"Once you're immortal like us sore muscles don't last very long, as they heal in a few minutes and that includes if you strain a muscle. We still use the whirlpool or the sauna quite a bit, but they are simply for enjoyment instead of using it to get rid of sore muscles," JJ told Spencer.

"Even broken bones don't last very long," Aaron grinned.

"Yes, I did get that from your story about cracking your cheekbones due to sparring with a droid," Spencer said.

"Believe me, it does come in incredibly convenient, since we can break bones just as easy as a mortal can, the difference being that we heal in minutes instead of weeks," Dave said.

"We've still got to make sure that whatever limb is broken is straight and in the right position so that it heals properly," JJ said.

"That only makes sense," Spencer said. "I suspect it's probably painful to have a limb straightened, because it certainly would be for a mortal."

"Oh, absolutely," Dave, Aaron and JJ said at the same time with identical grimaces at remembered pain.

"All of us have had broken or cracked bones at one time or another," JJ added.

"Which isn't a very pleasant experience as I'm sure you know," Aaron added.

"Of course not, why should it be any different for immortals then it is for mortals," Spencer said. "You're already blessed with being able to heal remarkably fast and not aging after you reach the beginning of your third decade. Also according to you all immortals have at least one mate, so I think that you are incredibly blessed."

"I never thought about it that way," Dave said thoughtfully. "Spencer's right you know, Immortals are incredibly blessed. We have some advantages that regular mortals do not, even if we're still basically human. All of us, except for JJ and Spencer, ought to be buried in the ground and even JJ should be an incredibly old woman by now and yet she's still young and beautiful just like Aaron and I are still young and handsome. Our immortality is a blessing, even if we have to commit some minor crimes in order to avoid detection."

"Which is something none of us like to do," JJ told Spencer, "but in this age of computers and other technology, what choice do we have?"

"I do understand, and really changing your identity on a regular basis is a very minor crime," Spencer said. "I learned a long time ago that we all do what we have to do to survive, although I am against child abuse, murder, rape that kind of thing."

"Well, you're going to fit right in with us," Dave said smiling. "We have much the same philosophy. There are some things that we'll never do, no matter what though, and those three things you just mentioned definitely fall into the category of things we will never do."

"I believe you were going to fuck me senseless again so feel free to get back to that," Spencer suggested after a few minutes of silence.

All three of the other stared at Spencer for a moment surprised at his words when they saw he was serious they were happy to comply and started making love to him again.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~


	10. Chapter 10

Part 10

"Welcome to the family, Spencer," Joan told the young man kissing his cheek.

"Thank you," Spencer said blushing a little, for Joan was still a very beautiful woman despite being in her 50s. It was clear though that she worked to maintain herself and hadn't let her figure go to seed. Of course, it was likely she'd had some sculpting done at least on her face, so she still looked young, but he wasn't about to ask because it very well could be just good genes.

"He was already a part of the family, even if he didn't realize it for awhile," Aaron corrected.

"Yes, he was," Dave agreed smiling. They had kept Spencer occupied for three days with breaks for food, sleep, the bathroom and to spend some time with the kids. They'd had fun in the Jacuzzi and the whirlpool and had had very intense sex in both those locations.

None of them had been able to keep their hands off Spencer, as they had waited so long to have him that they just kept wanting to fuck him senseless as often as they could. Thanks to the three day hiatus where they'd done very little else except make love Spencer was well on his way to being immortal. He was also pretty sore, but it was more then worth it considering all the things that Dave, Aaron and JJ had done to him over that 72 hours.

"We'll have to hire a moving van to bring all your stuff over here," JJ said. "You can give your apartment manager two weeks notice as there is no point of you having a separate place of residence."

"No, there is not," Spencer said smiling rather goofily, as he ate his waffles, covered in blueberries. He had watched Dave as he had done the waffles from scratch not using a mix and he knew very well that most people couldn't do that anymore or if they could didn't bother for whatever reason. Dave was apparently so happy that he whistled softly while he worked, which caused Spencer to smile, because he knew the reason that Dave, JJ and Aaron were a incredibly happy and that was because of him. As hard as it was to believe these three people wanted him to be a permanent part of their lives and not just as a temporary amusement or a passing fancy. He knew very well what his father would say if he ever discovered that his son was shacked up with three people, especially since two of them were men and not women. Spencer was sure that he'd raise bloody havoc, even though he had abandoned his family over two decades before and had absolutely no say in how he lived his life. His mother on the other hand, would not care one way or the other so long as he was happy and he was, so incredibly happy, as amazing as that was. In fact, he had never been so happy in his life.

"Also we are planning on having triplets if we can arrange it that way, just as soon Spencer's immortal like us," JJ told Joan.

"Well, three more babies to look after," Joan smiled obviously happy at the news.

"You'll have help if necessary," Dave told Joan. "You know we've never liked droids very much but we're willing to use the nanny droid that came with this house so long as there is a living person backing them up. We can hire someone else if necessary."

"We'll, of course, be around to help out as much as possible, as we know that triplets are not easy to take care of, since we've had them before," Aaron added.

"Well, we'll manage," Joan said. "We always do."

"Still, we don't want you to make yourself ill, because one baby is enough work much less more than that," Dave said. "Unlike us, you can get ill, so you must look after your health, as you're not young anymore and therefore, won't likely get over things like a simple cold as easily, much less something more serious."

"I think it's better if we hire temporary babysitters whenever necessary," JJ suggested. "Like if we wanted a night out with just the four of us. Of course, Joan deserves time off to."

"That's possible, especially while the children once they're here, are so young. I mean they'll need everything done for them, to be fed at regular intervals to have their diapers changed, to be given bathes and many other things," Aaron said.

"All of which we have down to a fine art between us," Joan said.

"Yes, but that's usually only a single infant not three," Dave said. "You never had to deal with three small little lives at one time, because every time JJ's gotten pregnant in the last few years it's always been a single baby. Trust me, it's a lot of work and most people would've gone insane if they'd tried to do it by themselves."

"Well, I don't have any experience with multiples, so I'll be guided by you in this," Joan said. "I agree that one baby is a lot work, so it makes sense that three would be even more so."

"Having three lives depending on would drive most ordinary people insane," Aaron smiled.

"Yeah, it nearly did, the first time," JJ agreed. "If Penny and her mates hadn't been nice enough to help us out those first few years I'm not sure we would have survived."

Spencer realized that Penny was likely Penelope Garcia that had been mentioned as an expert hacker.

"Yeah, she, Hadrian and Donald probably saved our sanity," Dave said chuckling. "We had no idea how to handle triplets that first time and we happened to mention the trouble we were having when we were talking to Penny. She'd had multiples several times as she met both her mates before we met JJ, so she knew what she was doing."

"The three of them arrived in less than a week and helped us out," Aaron smiled, as he remembered.

"Gave us a lot of useful tips and gave us a chance to get some sleep," JJ said.

"We were better prepared next time," Dave smiled. "We depended heavily on our family and friends every time we learned we were going to have triplets. One of my brothers and his mates came to help us out next time. They simply moved in with us just like Penny and her mates did until the triplets were less of a handful."

"That's the way it's supposed to be," Joan said. "It's nice to have so many friends and family to depend on when you need it."

"Yeah, it really is," Aaron said.

"So what about your family, Aaron?" Spencer asked curiously. "You don't ever talk about them you know."

"My parents were worse than your father in a lot of ways," Aaron told Spencer gently. "They've been dead for a very long time now and I say good riddance. I'll tell you the whole sordid tale sometime soon, as you deserve to know."

"I can guess what your childhood was like, especially if it was worse then mine," Spencer said, grimacing in sympathy.

"Oh, it was," Dave said, as he looked at Aaron who was looking back at him with an identical expression. "While yours was bad, Aaron's was much worse. We'll tell you the whole story sometime just like we did JJ when she joined us."

"At least this is the last time I'll have to talk about the whole sordid tale," Aaron said smiling a little grimly.

"You don't have to you know," Spencer said, giving Aaron a way out.

"You deserve to know," Aaron said. "We don't keep secrets from each other, because we are that close. It doesn't matter what kind of past you have, as we'll always support you and vice versa. You've told us a lot about your past and I know you'll tell us the rest when you feel you can. No, keeping secrets only breeds distrust or suspicion in someone's intentions at least normally, and even if that's not the case with the four of us because of the bond you still deserve to be told the truth."

"In our case, we never doubt each other's feelings because of that bond that Aaron mentioned," Dave said. "It is not possible for any of us to cheat on each other at least once the bond is completed. It never occurs to any immortal to cheat on their mates."

"Well, that's nice to know," Spencer smiled.

"Yes, I have to admit it's nice not to have to worry about your spouse or spouses cheating on you with another, as that happens far too often," JJ smiled.

"Believe me, I know," Spencer said a little sourly thinking how his father had cheated on his mother.

"So your father cheated on your mother then?" JJ asked and Spencer nodded.

"I don't have any concrete proof of it other then my own observations, as he never brought another woman into the house, as he wasn't that dumb, but he sure did come home with fresh hickey marks on his neck smelling of another woman's perfume more than once. I might've been young, but I certainly wasn't stupid or unobservant," Spencer said.

"Yeah, I know. Others believe that children never noticed anything and this is definitely not true," Dave said shaking his head. "Most children are seen and not paid attention to, so they pick up a lot."

"Some do tend to be rather oblivious, but most children are smarter than the adults in their lives give them credit for," JJ said. "I mean we know this from our own kids as they are certainly very intelligent for their ages, but then they were born to highly intelligent people, so it's not surprising."

"Yeah, that's true," Aaron said.

"We should ask Zola if having triplets deliberately is possible," JJ suggested after a few minutes of silence.

"Zola?" Spencer asked a little puzzled. "I've heard you mention that name, but who is she?"

"She's a doctor, an immortal, that helped us out the first time JJ had triplets," explained Dave. "She was an old friend back a long time ago as I did her huge favor and now she comes to see us everytime JJ is pregnant with triplets or even twins. She is our preferred doctor."

"It doesn't matter where she and her mates are she always comes when we need her and really shuttles have gotten so much faster nowadays, that it's no more then a 2 or 3 hour trip even if they're overseas," Aaron added.

"When we're having only a singleton we can handle it ourselves," Dave grinned.

"Well, it seems like I'm going to have to get used to some things," Spencer said, smiling. "It's a rather unusual concept to have a doctor travel to whatever city you are living in just to help a woman give birth, because there are plenty of mortal doctors for that."

"Yeah, but what you don't realize is that us immortals heal quickly and mortal doctors have no idea how to stop that from happening long enough to do a C-section, because most mortals have no idea that immortals even exist," Aaron reminded him.

"So since immortals travel all the time they come to their patients at least where it concerns pregnancy," Spencer summarized.

"Well, not so much if it's just a single baby, but for multiples definitely," JJ said. "No, we can go to the normal doctor if I'm only carrying one or even have it here at home. which is what we normally do. Zola remains in contact with us over link and email, make sure I'm eating, taking care of myself, you know?"

"We have it down to a routine now," Aaron grinned.

"We know exactly what to do for each situation, as JJ has never had anything more than triplets, which might not ever happen," Dave said.

"I see I have a lot to learn," Spencer smiled.

"You'll get there," Aaron encouraged him. "I mean you pick up stuff fast, so it won't take you long, but you've only known about Immortals for a few days and we distracted you for most of it, so you have to give yourself a break."

"Aaron's right you'll pick it up fast enough, just from being around us," JJ said.

"Yeah, I will," Spencer smiled relaxing. "I really need to go and take some photos though since his little interlude while very enjoyable, has put me behind. Besides, I owe Emily another installment soon."

"Yeah, you do have your job to consider," Dave said calmly. "We'll pack up your apartment for you since you'll be busy if you just give us the keys."

"You don't have to do that," Spencer protested.

"We don't mind," Aaron told Spencer. "This is something that we can do for you while you're busy taking photos."

"Well okay," Spencer said giving in, knowing that he wouldn't win the argument, so he didn't bother to try, since he knew very well how stubborn all three of his mates were. It was actually kind of nice to be taken care of for a change.

"We'll hire somebody professional to do it," Dave said. "You won't need the bed, but as for anything else..."

"We can simply put the bed in one of the guestrooms," JJ said. "Or maybe we can store it as we might need it later."

They all chatted and made some decisions about what to do with Spencer's things until the kids were called downstairs to have their breakfasts separately from the adults. Since there was no school on the weekend they had slept in as was their habit when they didn't have to get up early.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

"As much as I'd like to keep you to myself I think it's time we take a trip to see my mother," Spencer mentioned one day several months later. "It's not really fair to mom if I don't introduce her to the three people who are so important to me, who have made my life so much better than it was before."

"It's the right thing to do," Aaron said, as he sipped his cup of coffee.

"And I agree, just as I did when Spencer first mentioned that he wanted us to meet his mom," Dave said.

"Yes, and in fact, Spencer probably should've introduced us to her soon after we met," JJ added. "At least before we even officially got together permanently, when we were just dating as that's traditional."

"Yes, it is," Dave agreed. "Or at least it is in families who have their children's best interest at heart and want them to be happy."

"I would've been beaten within an inch of my life if I dared bring Dave home," Aaron grinned sardonically. "They probably wouldn't even have approved of JJ, because they were extremely old fashioned and to them it was the man that was supposed to be the breadwinner while the woman stayed home and raised the kids. I always thought that my mother's life would've been better if perhaps, she'd had a career of her own, happier anyway, more content, but there's no way that father would've allowed it. I've always thought that maybe she wouldn't have been so cruel if she had been a happier person with a satisfying career."

"We'll never know now, but that's very possible," Dave said soothingly kissing Aaron's cheek.

"No, we won't, as they've been dead for several centuries now," Aaron said. "I might be a little wistful that my childhood had been different, more like yours was Dave, but I wouldn't change a thing if it meant I didn't meet any of you. Wishing my childhood was different is one thing, but it actually happening and changing things is not what I want, not if it means losing the happiness I have found with the three of you."

"You definitely deserved to grow up happier than you did, but unfortunately, there is a lot of people who don't really know how to be parents at all," JJ said kissing Aaron's other cheek.

"That's the truth," Dave said somberly. "And that includes some immortals, although mostly immortals tend to be very good parents for the most part."

"That makes sense if you ask me," Spencer commented having been paying close attention to the conversation. "Most immortals don't find their mates for centuries so they have a chance to travel, to learn about the world and also human nature. I'm sure most of them are intelligent enough to do the exact opposite of what bad parents do. Besides, the way you grow up and the support system you have during your formative years, which is usually your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends of the family, have a lot to do with who a child grows up to be. It's not the whole equation of course, but it certainly has a great deal of impact on the child. Some people like Aaron that come from an abusive household turn into fine people. Others that come from a good childhood turn into serial killers or some other kind of criminal, but some are strong enough to overcome their pasts, no matter how abusive it was."

Spencer was now immortal and had been so for just month, but considering how much they fucked each other senseless at every possible opportunity that wasn't surprising.

"But what you're not saying is that others are not," Aaron said and Spencer nodded.

"Unfortunately, the human race is still prone to violent behavior and it always will be as that's the way that we are made, ever since Adam and Eve stole the apple from the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden disobeying God's command," Spencer said.

"Well, it doesn't matter, because there is nothing we can do about it," JJ said. "I still think that people who truly fall in love are less likely to commit some kind of serious crime unless it's to protect themselves or their family. If humans had bonds like immortals so that they knew when they had found the one, well, I think the world would be in much better shape."

"Perhaps you're right," Spencer conceded smiling.

"Well, to get back on the original subject I think Spencer's right and it's time to pay a visit to his mother," Dave said. "I know we all felt bad that she couldn't be at our wedding, even though it was just a small simple ceremony. I know it took me awhile to tell my family about Aaron after we first met as I wanted as much time with him as I could get, before the family learned that I had found one of my mates. I did have to tell them eventually though, even before Aaron and I got together sexually, since I did rescue him as a 14-year-old."

"I know my childhood was mostly over by the time Dave rescued me, but the last few years was certainly much better then the first 14, Dave made sure of that," Aaron said.

"Practically any other adult that took you in would've been better than your parents," Dave snorted.

"Well, to change the subject my mother does know about you, as I've written her letters and told her about each of you." Spencer mentioned. "At first I didn't say anything to her, because I just knew our relationship wasn't going to last so I didn't see the point. I didn't want to get her hopes up about me settling down perhaps having a few children, now though..."

"Things are different," JJ said as she kissed Spencer's temple.

"Yes, they are," Spencer agreed smiling slightly. "She really wants to meet all three of you and I promised to try to bring you by soon. She understood those that we need a little time to ourselves, since we might've dated for awhile but we didn't get married until recently."

"Only three months, but what a three months it has been," Dave smiled. "We'll make arrangements and don't want to visit your mother sometime in the next few days."

"Should we take the kids to leave them here with Joan?" JJ asked.

"I say leave them here with Joan," Aaron said. "We shouldn't be gone more than a couple of days at least this first time, so there's no point of dragging the children along. Besides, they have school."

"I think you're right," JJ and we after thinking about it. "Joan is perfectly capable of looking out for them for a few days make sure they do their homework, get to school and get fed. Caro and Wes could even help Joan look after the others as they are the oldest and most responsible."

"We'll discuss it with Joan and see what she says, but I'm sure she'll agree," Dave decided. "She loves the kids and she won't mind looking after them for three or four days and there's always the droid as backup if necessary."

"Good, I'll let Dr. Norman know we're coming so that my mother isn't caught by surprise," said Spencer. "I think it's better that we don't mention the immortal thing though. I'm not exactly sure what would happen if we did mention the supernatural aspect of our relationship. If mom wasn't sick in her mind I would probably say go for it and tell her the whole truth..."

"We understand," Dave said gently. "We certainly would have told JJ's family the truth, her parents at least, if they hadn't already died by the time we met and also Aaron's if they had been different then they were, but that didn't happen. We know how to act normally and everything, since that's basically what we do every day we just won't mention bonds, mates, immortality or living forever."

"We'll have to be careful and my mother is still a pretty sharp lady, especially now that she's taking her medication regularly," Spencer warned.

"We'll be careful," Aaron promised.

"So you said awhile back that your mother would be happy for you," JJ mentioned.

"She will be, as all she ever wanted was for her son to be happy and she knows very well how hard it's been for me to find that happiness. She won't care that Dave and Aaron are men or even that I'm in a four-way relationship, just so long as I'm happy. So long as she's sure that you love me and that you're not just stringing me along then she'll be happy for all of us. She'll insist that we visit as frequently as we can and she'll also want to meet the children, although I think it's better if just the four of us go this first time, as has already been decided on."

"Alright then, I'll talk to Joan," JJ said, "while Dave makes some arrangements."

"I'll get four first class tickets on the first shuttle, say in forty-eight hours, as that'll give us time to pack an overnight bag and tell Joan and the kids our plan. I really don't think we'll be gone more than two, three days tops unless we want to take a vacation after we see Spencer's mom."

"That might not be a bad idea," Aaron said. "After all, technically, we haven't even had a honeymoon yet since Spencer officially joined us, as there were more important things to worry about at the time."

"We could take kind of a mini honeymoon while we are in Vegas," JJ said.

"As much as I don't want to burst anybody's bubble, I think if we're going to do that we should go and visit mom and go somewhere else for a few days," Spencer said. "I know very well that you want to give my father a piece of your mind, but I'd rather not get involved in that particular hornet's nest. I know very well we are more likely to run into him if we stay more than a day or two. Me I just want to avoid Las Vegas as much as possible until after he passes away."

"That can be arranged," Dave said finally after glancing at Aaron and JJ who nodded.

"You don't want to run into your father and I for one can understand that," Aaron said. "I certainly wouldn't have wanted to run into either of my parents after Dave rescued me, not even after I was a grown up and able to defend myself, so yes, I can understand that very well, even if the reasoning is totally different."

"So if we're going to Las Vegas just to see my mom where do you want to go on vacation afterwards?" Spencer asked. "Personally, I don't really care where we go as I haven't traveled very extensively unlike I'm sure the three of you have."

"In a few decades that will change," JJ grinned. "In 100 years you would've lived in at least three or four different cities and possibly even several different countries. I hadn't traveled extensively either before I met these two, but now I have lived in places big and small. We've lived in places like New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Paris, even Munch and Milan."

"Sounds great," Spencer smiled. "I would love to live in those places for awhile learn their history, stuff you can only learn when you actually live in the city or country. It might actually be good to get out of the United States as long as my father is alive anyway, because as far as I know he never travels overseas."

"I don't think we need to go that far as the chances of actually running into him or him tracking you down are slim to none considering that you changed your last name to mine when we married, just as JJ and Aaron did," Dave said.

"Besides he's had over 20 years to try to track you down, which he could've accomplished if he had bothered I'm sure, so I don't believe we really need to worry about him doing that," Aaron added. "After all, until very recently, you were living under your own name and it wouldn't've been very hard to hire a private detective."

"It's not so much him tracking me down, but I'm worried about the two of you," Spencer told them. "I know very well that what he did makes you mad and not just because I'm your mate, but because the way I was raised wasn't right. However, the fact, that we do share a bond just intensifies an already very tense situation and I'm well aware of it."

"It's nice that you can see that, but you don't have to worry about us," Dave told Spencer gently. "We would never go against your wishes and since you don't want us to go deal with the Senior Reid then we won't. I'm not saying that Aaron's and my feelings have changed, just that we can control ourselves unless the situation is pretty unusual."

"If we went against your wishes it would create a situation where you might believe that we would do it again, despite what you wanted and that would lead to mistrust, something Dave and I would never do," Aaron added. "No, when we make decisions we do it together, as that's the way it's always been and always will be. I'm not saying I wouldn't like to teach your father a lesson, but I can live with it so long as he doesn't pop up in our lives."

"Alright then," Spencer agreed, feeling in a nice little glow, that all three of them cared so much about his feelings. That Aaron and Dave were willing to not go after his father just because he didn't want them to truly showed that they did love him and although he had already known it he still appreciated that they were willing to let the matter rest, even though it wasn't what they, themselves wanted.

"Of course, we can't guarantee that we won't do anything if your father happens to find us and he causes a confrontation, but we won't go looking for him," Dave promised.

"That's fair," Spencer said. "I appreciate your restraint."

"Think nothing of it," Dave waved away Spencer's appreciation. "We love you and therefore, if we went behind your back, as Aaron said that would be a sure way to sow the seeds of mistrust. This is why we always make decisions together, so that we're always on the same page."

"Well, it certainly seems to work," Spencer said cheerfully. "I think everybody should follow your example, but I realize that the human race is just too ornery to do that."

"They are, but it doesn't matter so long, as it works for us," JJ said.

"And we all know it does," Aaron said.

"And that's all that matters," Dave added.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

"Mom, I'd like you to meet my husbands Aaron and Dave Rossi and my wife JJ," Spencer introduced.

It was just a few days after the discussion that Spencer and his mates had had, as arrangements had been made quickly.

"It's nice to meet you," Diana said politely, as she studied the three people who were standing quietly but confidently next to her son, whose posture and bearing were much different than it had been previously. Spencer had written about these people after they had been dating for months, but before they had tied the knot. Diana well know that Spencer wouldn't have wanted to mention any of these three people at first, because he would've been sure that the relationship wasn't going to go anywhere and he wouldn't have wanted to get her hopes up for him finally settling down. Diana had to admit that her son appeared quite happy in his marriage at least so far and his posture told her so, as it was more casually relaxed than it usually was.

"It's nice to meet you too," Dave said smiling charmingly. "Spencer wanted to introduce us to you and we all agreed that it was the right thing to do."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be at the wedding," Diana said.

"You were there in spirit," Spencer smiled. "We brought you a video of it as I knew you would want to see it."

"Thank you," Diana smiled at her son's thoughtfulness. "I will indeed enjoy watching this."

"It was just a small private ceremony since they were already married to each other, which was fine with me," Spencer said. "There were very few people present, except the kids and the nanny Joan."

"Well, I never imagined that you'd want a ceremony with a lot of people in attendance," Diana smiled.

"No, that's definitely not Spence," JJ said. "It's nice to meet you Mrs. Reid."

"Just Diana will do, as there is no need to be so formal," Diana told everyone. "You are my son-in-laws and also my daughter-in-law now. So Spencer wrote that you have several children."

"Oh, yes, three girls and two boys," JJ said. "I'd be willing to have at least one by your son but that's just going to have to wait a little while, as we're still working on our dynamics and getting used to being married. In another few months though, I would be willing to get pregnant."

"Well, I'm looking forward to having at least one grandchild," Diana smiled, an expression that lit up her face. "You'll make sure you'll inform me whenever it happens," Diana added to her son.

"Absolutely," Spencer agreed. "You know that I've wanted at least to couple of children for a long time, but I can settle for one if that's all I'm going to have. I don't particularly care if it's a boy or a girl since we already have some of each."

"It shouldn't be more than six months or so," JJ said. "All of us just need to get used to being married and give Spencer some more time to become truly part of our group."

"I'm looking forward to hearing that you are pregnant. Just make sure that you bring them by to see me."

"We will," Aaron who had been silent up until now said. "You're the only living grandparent besides, Dave's own parents amongst us. My parents died years ago and so did JJ's."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Diana said not knowing that Aaron was glad his were dead because of the way they had treated him.

"It was a long time ago," Aaron said, literally meaning it because they had died decades ago, nearly 2 centuries actually.

"So did you bring the children with you?" Diana asked changing the subject, seeing that talking about Aaron's parents made him uncomfortable.

"No, we left them with Joan, as she's perfectly capable of looking after them for day or two," Dave answered. "Our oldest daughter is nearly 13 now, so she'll help Joan out."

"Too bad," Diana said disappointed.

"We'll bring them to meet on the weekend once school lets out," Dave promised.

"Oh, good," Diana said thrilled. "So how old are they?"

"Well, you already know our oldest Caroline is nearly 13 and the others are approximately two years apart. There is Wesley, Andrea, Ashley and finally Frank," JJ said.

"In case you're wondering Andrea and Frank are mine and the other three are Dave's," Aaron added smiling. "JJ and I were originally intending to have another one, but then we met Spencer so decided to put that off."

"Yes, and now I'm glad we did, because this gives Spencer an opportunity to have at least one child of his own," JJ said.

"Having six children is a lot," Diana mentioned.

"If you're concerned about money trust me mom, that's not a worry. I've seen their portfolio of investments and they aren't going to run out of money unless they do something massively foolish, which doesn't describe any of them," Spencer commented.

"Well, it's really none of my business," Diana admitted. "You don't seem irresponsible enough to have anymore children if you can afford to."

"We're not," Dave said smiling at Diana's consideration instead of taking her words as an insult. "As Spencer said money isn't a problem. We've all invested well, as Spencer indicated, so we have plenty. Spencer's career is also really beginning to take off and soon he'll be raking in the dough to."

"Don't worry we've got it handled," Spencer told his mother smiling.

"Alright," Diana agreed smiling. "I'm glad to see you so happy son, because you more than deserve to be. Certainly more than anybody else I've ever known."

"I am," Spencer told his mother. "I've never been so happy in my life."

"Believe me, I can tell and that's all I ever wanted for my son," Diana said, smiling.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~


	11. Chapter 11

Part 11

"We did it!" JJ whooped for joy.

"We did?" Spencer said looking up from what he was doing, knowing instantly what JJ was so joyous about.

"Yeah, I just got back from the doctor who confirmed that I was carrying triplets."

It had been several days since all of them had discovered that JJ was indeed pregnant. They had used the method that Dave had suggested, as Zola thought it might work, though there were no guarantees. They had waited until JJ was at her most fertile two weeks after her menstrual cycle, and Dave had gone first and then Aaron the next day then and finally the day after that Spencer.

Really they had waited no more than 12 hours in between sessions and it seemed to have worked because JJ was now carrying triplets, although there were no guarantees that they had three different fathers, but JJ for one had no doubt.

"Well, I'm happy for you," Spencer smiled.

"You're not happy for yourself?" JJ asked looking Spencer puzzled.

"Of course I am," Spencer told. "I'm just not one to show my emotions that's all. I tend to internalize them."

"Don't I know it," JJ said sounding exasperated. "You need to learn not to internalize so much it's not good for you."

"Give me time, JJ," Spencer suggested gently. "I'm still getting used to everything you know and while I do love you, Aaron and Dave it's still new to me. I've already changed so much from the shy man you first met."

"That's true," JJ said more quietly this time.

"Besides, all of us for the most part anyway are the calm steady types, and while we can feel any emotion that mortals can we just don't display them like some people do," Spencer suggested.

"It's true that Dave and Aaron just like you in many ways, but I know for fact that they'll be very excited that I am indeed carrying triplets one for each of you and they'll probably pick me up and spin me around the room," JJ told Spencer who smiled a little at the image that conjured in his head.

"I'm very happy about this," Spencer told her with a genuine smile. "I'm glad to know that my suggestion worked so well and so did Dave's, but you must remember that I'm still getting used to being immortal, as I've only been one for a few months."

"Yeah, perhaps we should've waited another year to try this," JJ admitted. "Give you time to get used to your new life."

"It's fine," Spencer smiled. "I'm certainly looking forward to having a child of my own I promise you and I don't particularly care if it's a boy or a girl, since I know I'll have plenty of other opportunities."

"Yeah, you will," JJ promised him silkily, causing Spencer to gulp and swallow visibly, but at least he didn't blush so much anymore because he was getting used to how JJ did things like that. He knew JJ did it deliberately to get him used to having a woman in his life now along with two other men. He, Dave and Aaron had sex just as much as all of them did with JJ and at the moment he was very happy with his life. He no longer saw having sex as a necessary evil and in fact he loved it so long as it was with his three partners alone. He was learning so many new things and he had gained a lot of self-confidence just from having Aaron, Dave and JJ in his life, but all these recent changes didn't mean his basic personality had changed.

In fact, if truth be known he had turned into something of a sex maniac in the last few months and he was loving every minute of it, something he had never dreamed he would ever think.

"I wish you would stop doing that," Spencer said plaintively.

"And you shouldn't be so embarrassed when I do so," JJ told Spencer who silently agreed with that statement.

"No, he shouldn't, but you know what his upbringing was like," came the voice of David Rossi who was standing in the doorway smiling at them. "He's already changed a lot as he told you, you just need to be patient and give him time that's all. Aaron was very different when I rescued him at 14 and he's changed a lot since that time to. He was always more of an Alpha male like me though and it's obvious that Spencer is not. There's nothing wrong with this, he just has a quieter type personality much like you actually JJ."

"Really I have changed a lot, once I met you in the park," Spencer said. "Meeting you three was the best moment of my life, even if I didn't realize it for awhile."

"I'll try to be patient," JJ said.

"Well, you are having triplets if I heard you correctly," Dave smiled. "You're always a little bit more impatient when you are, but that's just the hormones talking. You know of course, that I'm very happy that you are indeed pregnant and you know that Aaron and Joan will be as well."

"I know," JJ said as Dave walked into the room and took JJ into his arms and then gestured to Spencer who rose and joined the pair. Dave snaked one arm around Spencer and the other around JJ and both of them were just content to cuddle into opposite sides.

"My mom's going to be excited by the pregnancy," Spencer smiled. "I know she's stuck in Bennington Sanitarium but he's been wanting grandchildren for a long time."

"We are going to visit her maybe in a few weeks to tell her that you're going to have a child soon," Dave said.

"Mom will be shocked to see me, as I usually don't visit more than a few times a year and we just visited a few months ago," Spencer smiled.

"Well, you only had a certain amount of money until recently so that's not surprising, as it's expensive to travel, but now that you have us we'll try to see her at least three or four times a year as really it's not that long trip up there. No, we could fly there and fly back in a single day if we really wanted to."

"If we do that there is less chance of running into my father," Spencer mentioned and Dave nodded.

"True," Dave said. "I'm actually hoping we do run into him so I can give him a piece of my mind. The way he treated you..." Dave pursed his lips in disgust. "Also the way Aaron's parents treated him... I just can't believe that the human race hasn't gotten past that kind of behavior by this century. "

"No, unfortunately, it's part of our genetics," Spencer said and Dave nodded.

"In any case, yes, I'm aware that Aaron and I promised that we wouldn't beat him up, but that's only if he doesn't cause a confrontation because we literally run into him. At the very least, I'd like to give him a piece of my mind and I know Aaron does as well, but we won't so long as we don't run into him when we're in the Las Vegas area."

"I know," Spencer said smiling. "By the way, I agree with you about how human should be past that sort of behavior by now, but since it is part of our genetics..."

"Believe me, I know, but still, you would think that humans or even some immortal for that matter would learn better, that they would at least learn to control their more basic instincts," Dave said, shaking his head. "Still, it doesn't matter anymore. We'll help you gain more confidence, something that your father should have done."

"Don't I know it," Spencer snorted.

"If we do happen to run into him he will not like the scene that Aaron and I create in public," Dave said grinning maliciously. "He's a well known lawyer and us making a scene in public with the truth won't do his reputation any good. I'm sure he's been telling a lot of lies, like maybe how your mother left him instead of the other way around. I doubt very much he's ever mentioned your mother's illness, which is partly what caused him to leave in the first place. He's probably told everyone that he's kept in contact with you, paid child support and so forth and if that's the case, well, we can tell everyone within listening distance that's a big fat lie. We can cause quite a scene."

"As pleasant a thought as that is I'd rather we just avoid him if it all possible," Spencer said. "Of course, I'm very well aware that we might run into him and he definitely won't like the fact that I'm with two men as well as a gorgeous woman."

JJ blushed at this, which had been Spencer's intent in the first place to pay her back for her teasing earlier. "I doubt very much that he likes group marriages very much, even though they're quite common in this century due mainly to the colonies on the moon and Mars, where there are fewer women then there are men. I wouldn't be surprised if he thinks group marriages should be abolished as he was against a lot of things that are so common now and when I was a child."

"Zola also told me that the reason that group marriages was decided on was because the birth rate of the planet dropped drastically due to infertility in women," JJ said. "People were marrying but not having children, even though they wanted them, so they ended up adopting a lot of times. Still, the birth rate had dropped by about 30%. Not many people remember this anymore, but it's one of the reasons that group marriages was decided on in the first place. Also you might not be able to adopt as the people in charge of the adoption process might decide you weren't suitable for whatever reason. The government figured that if people were given the freedom to marry without having to get a divorce because of lack of children, as you might still love your wife or husband after all, and making polygamy legal might increase the birthrate. They believed that this would encourage people to perhaps marry someone else while maintaining their previous relationship and so perhaps, the new relationship would produce children. Most of the time this is what happened, unless of course the man married someone of the same sex."

"Well, it certainly worked," Spencer smiled.

"Also a lot of times when a woman couldn't get pregnant with one partner the other partner was able to get her pregnant, which just shows that there was nothing wrong with the woman's fertility, but in the compatibility of the previous partner," Dave said.

"In my case, fertility has never been a problem," JJ smiled.

"No it hasn't, as you got pregnant with Henry before you met Aaron and I," Dave said. "Still, while infertility is a thing of the past for the most part, it was a major problem really not too long ago."

"Centuries isn't too long to you," Spencer told Dave smiling while thinking that Dave was one of the most handsome specimen of humanity that he had seen in a long time and Aaron was right up there with Dave when it came to desirability.

"That's true," Dave agreed, kissing the side of Spencer's neck and then doing the same to JJ.

"Well, we had better go check on the kids, tell them the good news," JJ sighed. "It's hard to believe that Frank is already four years old and he'll be five before these three are born. Also I need to contact Zola tell her about the pregnancy."

"Yeah, that's good to get her involved as early as possible," Dave said. "She'll knows we were trying to have triplets and she'll be thrilled that we succeeded."

"You'll love her when you meet her," JJ added to Spencer. "She's a very nice lady, which is why she's my doctor of choice. She never makes me feel stupid like so many doctors can, because of their superiority complexes."

"Yeah, I know a lot of doctors have what is known as the God complex," Spencer snorted. "They're so arrogant and full of themselves that they're hard to work with. They voice an opinion unshakable in the belief that they are correct, even when presented with irrefutable evidence that they are not."

"People like that drive me crazy," JJ said.

"Don't blame you there, since they've always driven me crazy to," Spencer said smiling.

"So how did the doctor tell you how far along you were?" Dave asked JJ.

"Only about a month, because when it's triplets you often show signs sooner rather then later," JJ said.

"So that means we have about six months to wait before they're born," Dave said.

"Why six months?" Spencer asked puzzled. "I mean technically she has eight months before they're supposed to be born."

"Because triplets are always notoriously early and Zola always does the C-section at the seven month point, preferably before I go into labor," JJ explained. "The babies have all their fingers and toes in place by then and most people can't carry them past 32 weeks, although some women do manage to carry them to 36 weeks, but why take the chance that Zola won't be available?"

"We've been through this before, several times and only their lungs will be a little underdeveloped at that point. We always set up some incubators, as Zola's quite good at building them from scratch," Dave explained.

"They just have to spend a few days in an incubator and then they're perfectly healthy," JJ smile.

"Well, I guess you have it all under control," Spencer said.

"We should, as we've had triplets about, what three times now?" Dave asked JJ who nodded.

"And this will be the fourth," JJ said by way of confirmation. "Of course, this time we did it deliberately and the other times were just happy accidents. I think though that this will be my last pregnancy for awhile until we move someplace new as we already have five with three more soon to be here."

"Yeah, we've never had more than 8 at a time," Dave said.

"Of course, now I'll be willing to have 9 as that will be three apiece for you, Aaron and Spencer," JJ said.

"There is an idea, although we've been having four apiece, but that was before Spencer joined us," Dave said liking the idea immensely.

"Well, we're going to be having at least 6 to 9 from now on," JJ grinned. "One more child then we normally have isn't going to be anymore trouble to deal with then eight."

"Three children within a few years of each other sounds great," Spencer said smiling. "I'm sure you've already had numerous children over the last few decades, but me I've never had a child of my own."

"Well, you're about to," JJ smiled, as she kissed Spencer cheek, causing him to blush a little.

"Well, at least I know they can get my mom schizophrenia and neither can I anymore," said Spencer.

"You probably wouldn't have gotten it anyway because you were too strong minded," Dave told Spencer. "You succeeded where your dad believed you would fail and you did it mostly just to prove him wrong."

"Yeah, I did," Spencer admitted. "That's why I kept getting degree after degree just to prove to him that I wasn't a failure he believed me to be. Of course, he probably doesn't even know it and even if he does I doubt he knows that's why I did it."

"It doesn't matter, as your father will be dead probably in another 70 or 80 depending on age and general health," JJ said. "Normally, I'm not one for violence, but I'd like to have a few words with him myself. Believe me, I can cut him down to size in no time."

"Yeah, she can," Dave smiled. "JJ can have a very sharp tongue when required."

"I prefer to be nice and sweet though," JJ told Spencer who smiled.

"A lot of people have more than one side to their personalities," Spencer said. "They can be tough and commanding at work for example with being so gentle and loving towards their offspring and spouse. Really we're more than two dimensional cut out figures, as humans are really very complicated, particularly when it comes to their emotions."

"That's certainly the truth," Dave said smiling.

The three of them had an enjoyable time together as they chatted and laughed waiting for Aaron to get home, so they could tell him the good news.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

"I'm going to have grandchildren," Diana said happily clapping her hands together in delight.

"One anyway," Spencer began.

It was three months later and they knew they had to go up to see Spencer's mother again in Las Vegas before JJ couldn't travel, just because it was too dangerous for the babies, not unless it was by car anyway or possibly train. Nothing might happen due to the difference in air pressure, but it did not hurt to be cautious.

"It doesn't matter that only one will have your blood son," Diana told Spencer sternly. "They will still all be my grandchildren whether they're technically related or not because you are married after all, and that means that the five that you already have also my grandchildren and the other three that JJ is pregnant with now as well."

"I'm sorry I didn't mean anything by it I was just trying..." Spencer began.

"To be logical, which often doesn't always apply in the real world," Diana told Spencer. "I know very well that being logical was the way that you used to hide your emotions, particularly hurt, but that's no longer necessary, as you have three people who love you very much."

"Childhood habits are hard to overcome," Dave told Diana, as he slung an arm around Spencer's waist. "He's changed a lot from when we first met and he'll continue to do so. Really, we haven't been together very long at all. He just needs to get used to being loved unconditionally."

"Yes, you're definitely right about that," Diana said. "His father certainly didn't give him an ounce of parental support and the things you learn in childhood do tend to stick. I only wish I could take a more active part in your lives, particularly my grandchildren."

"We'll make sure we bring them up here to see you as often as we can," Dave promised. "It's not right that you're stuck in here, so it's the least we can do to make sure you get to see them at least sometimes."

"I'll take whatever I can get," Diana told Dave gratefully. "I'm glad my son met the three of you, although I never imagined him getting married at all much less to three people."

"Neither did I," Spencer said speaking for the first time after being thoroughly chastised by his mother. The thing was, as much as it embarrassed him was that she was absolutely correct. It didn't matter whose blood these children shared they were still going to be his as well as Dave's, Aaron's and JJ's. His three partners certainly treated the kids as one big family and it didn't seem to matter whose was whose as all the males were all called dad or daddy depending on age. "But I've never been so happy so I'm glad that I met them."

"So am I, because I can tell you have changed a lot already," Diana told her son. "You're more confident for one thing and Dave's right you just need time to accept the fact that you're going to be loved unconditionally something your father never bothered to give you, but that every child should be able to feel from their parents."

"I'm sure you don't want to know what any of us think about that," Dave snorted.

"I can guess very easily," Diana told him with a knowing look.

"I'm sure you can," Dave said his tone grim, even as he leaned over to kiss Spencer's cheek affectionately. "Let's just say I don't have a very high opinion of the Senior Reid and leave it at that."

"You're trying not to say that you want to teach him a lesson for the way he treated his own son not to mention how he handled my illness," Diana said knowingly. "Believe me, I've often felt the same, but right now let's concentrate on the fact that soon you'll have to triplets deal with."

"Yeah, it's only going to be just another few months," Dave grinned.

"We can hardly wait," Spencer said smiling.

"A baby is always a special event, and three even more so," Diana said smiling. "I hope you'll bring them by to see me after they're born."

"We will," Spencer said and Dave nodded. "This is probably the only child I'm going to have since we already have five."

"I think JJ would be willing to have at least one more a couple of years from now of course," Dave said. "I'll talk to her about it."

"Well, let's just concentrate on the triplets right now," Spencer said thrilled at the thought of having at least two children that shared his blood and he knew that they would not be the last, since he was now immortal.

"I know you'll be a much better father then your own was," Diana said. "I expect to see you more often now and make sure you bring your children with you."

"Well, it's not really a long trip or anything, so I could try to come every few weeks, now that I finally have the money to travel like I didn't before," Spencer said.

What Spencer didn't say was that he now had access to his husbands and wife's accounts as they all had their separate ones, as well as one for all of them and he had several credit cards to that effect. The amount had staggered Spencer when he had seen the bank statements as he had not realized that between the four of them they had amassed such a massive fortune. No, they definitely were never going to go broke, so he would no longer be complaining about spending money. He knew that as soon as he had tied the knot with the four of them what was theirs had become his as well and they never complained about how much one of them spent. Really, they didn't spend that much, just enough to keep the household running smoothly. The children had designer labels when it came to clothes and shoes and the most expensive brand of handheld computers for their school lessons, which was a requirement in this century, but they also weren't spoiled as every demand was not given into. No, any presents for the most part were kept for Christmas and birthdays, though there were special treats sometimes like a trip to Planet Disney for example, but then that was more for all of them then it was just for the children.

No, the children were surprisingly unspoiled, although they were certainly used to the finer things in life.

"I'll make sure he does," Dave promised.

Dave was well aware that the reason Spencer hadn't visited before, well, besides, lack of money to do so, since traveling was expensive, was that he secretly feared ending up with his mother's schizophrenia. Now though, that wasn't possible so Spencer's fears were now groundless.

"I'll get JJ and the children now," Dave said looking at Spencer who nodded. "We just didn't want to overwhelm you with too many visitors all at once, since I know you're not used to them."

"You're so considerate, Dave," Diana told the handsome man, very glad that Spencer had fallen in with this group, because they were always so polite and seemed to have her son's best interest at heart a rather unusual turn of events, since usually the whole world seemed to be against him.

"I had good manners drilled into me when I was a child," Dave said, not mentioning that his childhood had been way back in the early 20th century.

"Well, that's certainly unusual in this day and age. Most children are so rude and some of them never learn better," Diana said approvingly.

"We are teaching our children good manners," Dave promised.

"Yes, they are," Spencer agreed. "They could certainly be much more spoiled than they are, but really they're good kids."

"We don't indulge them and give them everything they want," Dave said. "We certainly take trips like to Planet Disney for example, but really while that was for the kids it was also a family vacation. We teach them discipline and not to be spoiled rotten brats and make demands like so many people from wealthy families do."

"Now that's something I definitely approve of," Diana said. "Children with good manners are so rare nowadays."

"I'll make sure to visit more often," Spencer promised his mother once the conversation had lagged.

"Make sure you do," Diana told him in a severe tone and Spencer looked startled, then ashamed and promised himself that he would visit his mother as often as he could now that he had the money to do so and also he no longer had to fear getting his mother's dreaded disease, which was one of the main reason he had never visited very often before.

Finally Dave left to get Aaron, JJ and the kids and Diana's room was soon full of people.

The children of course remembered meeting Diana once before and being told that she was their grandmother.

Diana seemed happy with all the company, but all the adults kept a close eye on the situation as they didn't want to tire her out. Everything went fine, but finally it was time to go so Aaron picked up Frank from Diana's lap and allowed the little boy to say goodbye to his grandmother.

"Love, you grandmom," Frank said

"Love you to, sweetie. Please come back and visit again," Diana told the children. "I enjoyed your company so much."

"We will," Ashley told Diana kissing her cheek. "We are glad you're our grandmother."

"So am I, sweetie," Diana said smiling sadly, as she watched her son's family walk out of her room and down the hall.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

"You're coming along just fine," Zola smiled. "So long as you keep taking it easy you should be okay to give birth in just a few months time."

"I haven't forgotten all you told me about keeping in shape during pregnancy," JJ said. "I've given birth often enough over the decades that I haven't had time to forget."

"Yes, that's true," Zola smiled. "At least you're sensible and space them out, as I've met other people not just immortals that have them really close together. Of course, sometimes that's out of necessary due to age, which is a factor or because a woman got pregnant again on accident like when breastfeeding, but sometimes it's just due to pure stupidity. Having sex with no type of protection. I mean seriously a lot of women believe that they can't possibly get pregnant the first time, but it happens far to often and usually after a one night stand, though not always."

"Oh, yeah, I've known women like that who don't use birth control like they should or at where the man doesn't take the precaution of using a condom," JJ said, laughing.

"Oh, well, that's their problem," Zola shrugged. "So what's this Spencer like?"

"He's very nice," JJ said. "Smart, very smart actually, but he's not at all arrogant with it like so many are. He's a little awkward when it comes to social situations, but that's partly his upbringing and the rest of it is because he is so intelligent that a lot of people just can't understand him when he gets technical about a subject."

"Yes, many really intelligent people are awkward in some areas," Zola agreed.

"Still, he's improved a great deal as the first time he met us, as he looked like he wanted to flee in the other direction," JJ giggled.

"Well, that must've been a sight to see," Zola said with a smile.

"It was," JJ said. "Still, he's not nervous around us, at least anymore. We're still working on our dynamics and everything as we did just get married a few months ago, even if we were dating months before that. We've tried to get him out of his comfort zone so he's doing better when out in public as well. I suspect that he'll always be the quiet type at least, except around us and other people he knows well."

"So what does he do? What kind of work," Zola clarified.

"Oh, he's a photographer," JJ said. "He's quite good at it and his career has really taken off ever since he met us. We dated for eight months and it was only a few months back that he admitted he had fallen for all three of us and I'm well aware that was a big step for him. In any case, he's relaxed a great deal."

"He'll continue to improve so long as you continue to subtly encourage him," Zola said JJ nodded.

"We know and we've been doing exactly that," JJ said. "Sometimes he's gone all day, as he walks around the city taking photos and he says he's been inspired lately."

"I wonder why?" Zola said with a bit of a smile, already knowing that being in love could bring a person confidence, especially if they hadn't had any before.

"Yes, Spencer's well aware as are Dave, Aaron and I why he's been so inspired lately. Photography requires inspiration unlike working in the office for example. If you're not inspired you can still take photos and they might be good, but they'll never be art," JJ said.

"Now there is a revelation," Zola said smiling. "This is something I understand, though a lot of people, particularly mortals do not. They think taking a photo is just taking a photo and have no idea that you could be good at it, bad at it or have the potential to be a professional, something so few people have the talent for."

"Well, I believe that Spencer has the ability to be one of the best given enough practice, though I'm certainly no expert," JJ said.

"I would like to get to know your last mate better, as I have a feeling that there's unrecognized potential buried underneath that quiet exterior," Zola said.

"That's what Dave, Aaron and I think," JJ agreed. "Let's just say his childhood wasn't exactly conducive to him gaining confidence and leave it at that, as he's told all of us some things in confidence that I won't betray him by telling you."

"I don't expect you to, as I would never betray anything my mates tell me either that was told privately," Zola said. "You can guess a lot about a person though just because of the way they carry themselves, but I'll keep such thoughts to myself."

"So do you think that the triplets I'm carrying have three different fathers?" JJ asked.

"I do, if you did it the way you told me," Zola said. "It really doesn't take a lot for a woman's eggs to get fertilized, you know? If one of your mates spurted his seed into you and then you waited a few hours preferably 12 to 24, then it's very possible that these triplets have three different fathers just like all of you wished. A woman is most fertile two weeks after her menstrual cycle, so Spencer was right about that and you definitely have more chance of having a baby around that time. Of course, a woman's eggs once released lose their viability quickly."

"Yes, within three days," JJ said. "You know Spence is so intelligent that he could become a medical doctor or at least you can train him at least to do a C-section just in case you're not available or we're in a situation that you can't get to us quickly. We'll still call on you whenever I get pregnant with multiples, but Spencer could be your assistant and he could also be very useful for when I'm pregnant with just a single baby, although Dave and Aaron are pretty good at helping me deliver."

"That's not a bad idea," Zola admitted thoughtfully. "It never hurts to have a backup just in case. Of course, he might not be interested in learning from me."

"I think he will be as he loves to learn new things and that it will help out his new family is something I believe he will go for, though I'm not absolutely positive because we're still learning about each other," JJ said, then added grinning. "I also can't guarantee he won't be embarrassed at the suggestion. Spencer blushes rather easily, which makes him look so adorable, though I will never admit that to his face as it would only embarrass him further."

Zola laughed at that she had met people like that before.

"He's changed a lot ever since he met us, I'm not denying it and he'll continue to do so, as you're aware but right now I think he's still unsure of his place in our lives. He loves us and we love him, but he was so affection starved as a child and even as an adult..."

"Yes, yes you don't have to say anymore, as I can guess very well what went on, as I have been around the block more than a few times," Zola said.

"So have we all, except for Spencer," JJ smiled just a little sadly, but then immediately cheered up again. "It'll take time for him to truly realize that he'll never be affection starved again, like he has been all his life, but once he does Aaron, Dave and I expect him to bloom emotionally, as sometimes all you need is to know that someone loves you unconditionally in order to do so."

"That's very true," Zola said smiling.

The two ladies chatted for awhile longer then went to tell the three men the good news and that was that the babies were healthy and so long as JJ was careful and looked after herself they would be born healthy.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~


	12. Chapter 12

Part 12

"You know I never thought about learning enough about obstetrics to help JJ whenever she's pregnant," Spencer said thoughtfully after Zola had asked him if he would be interested in learning what she could teach him. "I don't think I need to actually take the full college experience."

"No, I can teach you all you need to know just in case of an emergency," Zola offered. "Aaron, Dave and JJ say you're an intelligent young man, observant and know how to pay attention, and coupled with your eidetic memory you should be able to pick up what I can teach you quickly."

Spencer tried not to blush at the compliment, because he still wasn't used to receiving them, especially sincere ones.

Zola watched a blush spread over Spencer's face and thought that that being able to blush so easily was rather endearing, although she was well aware that Spencer wouldn't see it that way, so she said nothing.

"I think I would like to," Spencer admitted a little shyly.

"Well, good we can begin lessons next week, when I come back to JJ's weekly examination," Zola smiled.

"So do you think that one of the babies is mine?" Spencer asked a little shyly, but also curiously.

"You know JJ asked me basically the same thing," Zola told him smiling. "I'll tell you the same thing I told her. You are right when you said that two weeks after woman's menstrual cycle is when she is most fertile and I truly believe that the triplets she is carrying belong to you, Dave and Aaron, if you all did exactly what JJ suggested to me when she mentioned it."

"Yes, we did exactly as Dave suggested," Spencer said blushing a little, for he wasn't used to talking about this kind of subject with anyone, although he admitted he was getting better about blushing over every little thing. "Dave went first, then Aaron and finally myself. We waited about 12 hours, maybe a little bit over that in between, so that we could all get some sleep and so that the egg had time to truly get fertilized."

"Well, technically, if an eggs going to get fertilized it's going to happen within a few minutes," Zola said, "but still, taking the time to get some rest and also not penetrating JJ within minutes of each other gave your plan more chance of working."

"I would say so considering that it likely worked, although I know we won't know for sure until they are born and can do a DNA test," Spencer said smiling, as he thought about having a child of his own. "Yes, I realize that two could be Dave's or Aaron's or even mine or we could even have a pair of identical twins in JJ's belly."

"But you don't believe so," Zola said shrewdly, as she studied Spencer intently.

"Well, I wouldn't say believe, as there are too many variables to calculate," Spencer denied. "I would say I suspect strongly that JJ is carrying one baby for each of us, but we don't know for sure until we can do a DNA test."

"You have to have faith," Zola told Spencer. "You have to have faith that it worked the way that you hoped it would. You can't always be depending on science or calculating variables, as you have to have faith and you need to also trust your instincts, as a lot of times they can warn you of danger."

"I never thought about it like that," Spencer said quietly, as he thought deeply about what Zola had said.

"No, you weren't brought up to believe in faith, to believe in things without seeing them for real. No, you came to depend on what you could see and touch and smell, but really love for instance is all about faith. It's all about having faith that somebody loves you just as much as you love them and having faith that they will never stop. Love isn't tangible, not really, it's about feeling it in your heart. It's about loving another person for their gifts as well as they're faults and quirks. Really, they're all different kinds of love, there's romantic love like you feel for Dave, Aaron and JJ, there is love for all the children in the house, even though they don't share your blood, there's love for Joan, who will be there for all of you for as long as she is able and there's love for your friends or even for just a companion or acquaintance. There're many different types of love, but in order to feel that you must open yourself up to be able to receive it. You must have faith that Dave, Aaron and JJ will never leave you so long as they draw breath."

"Was I really that obvious?" Spencer asked finally in a rather shaky voice.

He had been silently worrying that JJ, Dave and Aaron would leave him someday, because of his many quirks, faults and foibles, mates or not, but Zola had just said that he needed to have faith that their relationship was going to work out. Not in those exact words of course, but the meaning had been the same.

"Only to someone who has lived as long as I have, dear," Zola told him gently, but with compassion in her tone. "I'm very good at reading people, although I suppose someone who is observant may guess of your feelings, although you're really good at concealing them. Really though, not that many people are that observant nowadays nor do they study human nature. You never have to worry about JJ, Dave and Aaron leaving you, because the bond is complete now and it would literally kill them to do so. Even before the bond was complete they knew that you were the final piece that would complete their family and some people might be stupid enough to give that up for whatever reason, but that definitely doesn't describe the Rossis."

Both JJ and Aaron had taken Dave's last name and so had Spencer himself, as it just seemed more practical. Besides, Spencer well knew that it would be much harder if not impossible for his father to locate him if he was under a different last name, though Spencer wasn't sure he would bother to try, as it had been over twenty years after all, but it did give him a sense of security, so he had done so when Dave had offered.

"I don't mean to doubt," Spencer said a little hesitantly.

"But your upbringing was such that you can't help but do so," Zola finished calmly and Spencer nodded wondering how this beautiful woman could see right through him.

"Yes, my father was always making little innuendos that I know now are not true, but I can't seem to shake his words," Spencer admitted. "I'm afraid that's one of the problems with having an eidetic memory, as his words have never faded from my mind like memories tend to do after a few years."

"Tell me something," Zola suggested and only continued when Spencer looked up. "Why should you give credence to your father's words? Why do you give his words power? From what I can gather from our conversation your father was not really one at all. It is the father's job to encourage his son or his daughter for that matter. It is his responsibility to teach them right from wrong, to encourage them in whatever they want to do with their lives, to train them for living outside their childhood home once they are grown up. And it is his job to make sure that any children he has take the path that will not bring them harm, like by one of them ending up in prison for instance for some type of crime or even taking their own lives and to deal with situations like bullying. Unfortunately, not all parents are good ones as I should well know, because I've seen so much in my centuries. In any case, from what I can gather your father did none of these things. He basically ignored your existence and when he wasn't ignoring you he probably often made grand statements that were not true. But as a child you're very impressionable, no matter how intelligent a child you were and your memory doesn't help the situation as you indicated a few minutes ago. But tell me why you should continue to give power to a man who showed that he didn't love you like a parent should love their children? That you turned out so well is basically due to your strength of will and goodness of character and yet you let your father's word from so long ago still affect how you live your life. I know very well how hard it is to shake your childhood, but this is where faith comes in. You must have faith in your relationship with Dave, Aaron and JJ or you'll end up sabotaging your own happiness due to the doubts that your father instilled in you as a child. Tell me why you would give that bastard so much power over you?"

"I never thought about it that way," Spencer said feeling thoroughly chastised, his doubts fading as he considered Zola's words or lecture really, seriously.

"Well, I suggest you do," Zola suggested gently, but firmly. "It would absolutely devastate the three people out there, if you were to leave due to your doubts as you would only make yourself unhappy, nay miserable and them as well. Besides, why would you do the same thing your father did? Leave your family to their own devices? I think your father's proved that he didn't love his family at all or he never would've taken the actions he did."

"How can you know so much about me?" Spencer asked, curiously.

"I don't know your specific situation," Zola promised Spencer, "but I have been around the block more than a few times and seen more than you can imagine in that timeframe. I was speaking more generally then specifically."

"How did you know my father left," Spencer insisted.

"Because it's usually the father that does and I doubt you would have turned out so well if he had stuck around," Zola told him. "It's not always the father, but over half the time it is. Yes, it is usually the father that abandons the mother and his child, if you go by statistics. The father doesn't have the mother's instinct to protect her offspring a lot of times, although I admit that it could be the mother that leaves, because sometimes they don't have that urge to protect what came out of their womb. Besides, he was the one that caused all the problems, so it makes sense that it is him who left."

Spencer relaxed because what Zola said was true it was mostly the father that abandoned his family for some reason, although not always as the Zola had indicated, as there were plenty of mothers out there that would leave on a whim, not caring about their offspring at all. Still, the mother usually had a strong protective instinct much more so then the man of the family, though that wasn't always true of course. Zola was also right when she said that it was his father who had caused all the problems and therefore, it was simply logical that it was him that had left.

Spencer considered Zola's words and then realized that the little actions that his three mates had towards him spoke volumes. They always had a nice, hot bath ready for him for when he got home so long as he called ahead. They always had a meal prepared just in case he hadn't had dinner. They always asked his opinion on things, never making him feel like he didn't belong.

Oh, they were still working on their dynamics with him now that he was a part of their lives, even after several months but at least they were doing so, trying to incorporate him as part of their family as was he. They never made him feel unwanted or unappreciated.

His father had never tried to do any of the things for his mother or had never bothered with his son like calling down to the school when the bullying got particularly bad. His father had never given him any positive advice or said anything nice about him, at least not within his hearing.

Spencer had been lucky that he had never gotten any broken bones, because he wasn't sure what he would've done about it if that had occurred, especially after his father had abandoned his wife and son. He'd ended up with plenty of sore muscles and bruises, but no actual broken bones and he was grateful for that. He had often wished that his father had sent him to a special school or at least paid enough attention to him to see how bad the situation really was, but his father simply hadn't cared.

Zola was right why should he let his father's words from so long ago continue to affect his chance at happiness and love as his doubts might make him eventually leave his family just as his father had his own. Spencer doubted that William Reid would ever realize that his careless words and observations said within the hearing of his son so long ago would continue to affect him even more than 20 years later.

Spencer doubted that even if he did know that he would care about the damage he had done to his son emotionally and mentally at least. He seriously doubted that his father even realized how much words could damage someone, especially a child who were always very impressionable no matter how intelligent, as Zola had said.

"You right, I shouldn't let my father's abandonment continue to affect me, but I can't seem to help myself," Spencer admitted

"You shouldn't, but it's something you're going to have to work on," Zola told Spencer. "If you let your doubts make you leave, doubts your father instilled in you whether knowingly or not, your family would just hunt you down and convince you to come back. It's better to avoid doing that if possible because the would only deeply hurt all of you, wounds you would have trouble recovering from. Besides, you're immortal now and you might run into each other at some point, because while the world is big it isn't that big."

"So how do I overcome my doubts?" Spencer asked Zola who was very wise, but then as she had said she'd been around the block a few times.

"Well, for one thing whenever they pop up you simply tell yourself that you're happy and you know that Dave, Aaron and JJ love you, despite your foibles and faults. Besides, you aren't the only ones with faults and in fact, everyone Immortal or mortal has them as both of our species are imperfect. You simply use logic on your doubts until they go away. Personally, I would see a psychologist and I do know some that are immortal, but that's your decision," Zola said.

"A psychologist I never thought about seeing one of those," Spencer said.

"Well, before not so much depended on you not listening to those doubts your father instilled in you," Zola said

"That's true," Spencer said thoughtfully. "We also must consider my mother, who would be very disappointed in me for running away from happiness, simply because of my father's influence on me as a child. I know what she would say if I even contemplated the idea much less did so."

"I'm sure your father told you that you would never find anyone, get married, have a family, because either you were too intelligent or you just to plain or boring to be interesting. Ignoring the fact of course, that there are plenty of people that are just as intelligent as you are out there with similar, if not identical problems who have families of their own," Zola suggested delicately.

"That's exactly what he said, although he didn't use those exact words," Spencer said beginning to realize the amount of damage that his father had done to his self-confidence and of course the bullies that he'd had to deal with basically on his own hadn't helped the situation. "Still, the meaning's the same."

Zola nodded, but said nothing.

"I'll think about what you said and also think about seeing a psychologist," Spencer promised. "I can promise you this though and that is I will never leave the three people who are so important to me as I know I love them and I know that they love me. Despite the doubts my father installed in me I could never leave them, as I know I would only be miserable if I did so and I know they would also be miserable as well. I am not the type of man that does something on a whim as I always carefully consider my actions before doing anything, as I don't see myself leaving my family like my father did. Besides, how could I ever leave my child that I know JJ is carrying? If I did that I would be just like my father and that is something I will never be. Why would I want to separate my son or daughter from their two siblings, as that would only hurt them as much as it would hurt all the other children, but their half siblings especially."

"Not to mention the other four adults in the house," Zola said. "After all, JJ will be their mother once they are born and I doubt very much that you could take your child away from her without a battle."

"I would never do anything so foolish, doubts or not," Spencer promised. "I love all three of them so much that why would I follow in my father's footsteps and make myself unhappy?"

"Well, I wouldn't, but you never know how different people are going to react to different situations," Zola shrugged.

"That's true," Spencer said thoughtfully. "Thank you for your advice you've given me a lot to think about."

"You're welcome," Zola told him. "I just had to say something to you because from what I know about you from JJ, although she didn't really say much, it was enough for me to know that your childhood was likely very rough and that your father was likely responsible simply because of statistics. She said very little really and I inferred the rest due to my vast experience with human nature, as doctors learn a lot about how people think if they are at all observant."

"I know I should take offense that somebody I hardly know is interfering in my life, but I don't, because I know you have my best interest at heart," Spencer told was smiling a little. "Dave, Aaron and JJ have only the best things to say about you and how you're their doctor of choice, especially when JJ is pregnant with twins or triplets."

"It's nice to be wanted," Zola said, smiling.

"Yeah, it is," Spencer agreed with that. "As I said earlier I'll be happy to learn some of the basics from you next time you come to see JJ. Hopefully, I'll eventually learn enough that I can help out in an emergency."

"Like if I'm busy elsewhere at the time and I can't come right then," Zola said.

"Exactly," Spencer said. "I know you don't usually let JJ go into labor at least according to her and so far that's worked out, but something might happen one of these days where she does go into labor earlier then you expect. You might be able to get here within a few hours, but by then..."

"JJ would've been in considerable pain for all that time, and might even have given birth to one of the babies naturally so it's just better to have a backup just in case," Zola finished. "Of course, when she's pregnant with a singleton she gives birth naturally, but it is relatively easy to do so for the most part and Dave and Aaron can handle that despite not having any medical training."

"Still, it's good to have a backup just in case of problems," Spencer said. "Someone who lives in the family."

"Exactly," Zola smiled. "So far things have gone smoothly for every pregnancy, but who knows what will happen decades or even centuries from now?"

"Yeah, that's true," Spencer said. "So I'll be happy to learn all you can teach me so I can help out just in case of an emergency, as I love her and I wouldn't want her to be anymore pain then necessary, you know?"

"Believe me, I do understand," Zola told Spencer who nodded seeing that she really did. "We'll spend several hours together and I'll teach you everything I know, enough to make you a midwife at the very least, even if you never take the official courses."

Spencer laughed at that because midwifery was a woman's profession, but Zola was just saying that he'd have that much knowledge, by the time she was done teaching him.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

"That feels wonderful," Spencer sighed, as Aaron was massaging his feet while Dave was busy rubbing oil into his back and buttocks.

"This is something we do for each other fairly often not only for the enjoyment, but also for relaxation," Aaron said.

"Yes, you're the one that has to be on their feet the most tramping all over the city taking your pictures," Dave agreed.

"JJ needs more of your attention right now than I do," Spencer mildly protested already half-asleep. "She is only a month or so from having a C-section after all."

"JJ is doing just fine," Aaron told Spencer. "She's staying off her feet in the den and reading a book so she doesn't need us right now."

"She's well used to the routine by now considering how many times we've had triplets," Dave added smiling. "She knows to take it easy until after their births. Yeah, she needs a lot of spoiling right now, but you deserve some of our attention to, as we never want you to believe that we don't love you, just as much as we do each other and also JJ. That's the way a family works, especially one like ours with more than one spouse and that is we split our time between each other and the children."

"JJ is just fine lying on the couch reading a good book," Aaron told Spencer. "Believe me, she'll call if she needs us, but she's still pretty independent, even when she's pregnant and we just make sure she doesn't overdo."

Spencer said nothing as he knew he was still learning the dynamics within the group, still, he couldn't be happier about all the attention he was receiving, since he'd had so little true acceptance in his life. Dave, Aaron, JJ and even Joan were always doing little things for him where that was bringing him a cup of coffee, or always making sure that he didn't overdo it and that when he been tramping all over the city all day that he came home to a bath already filled and still hot as well as a good homecooked dinner. He felt as if he was living in a hotel, but really he knew this was what life should be like. He did plenty for them in return, which he knew was part of any marriage. Marriage was a partnership where they each saw to the others needs, because of love not because of duty.

"That feels heavenly," Spencer sighed in content already half-asleep from the massage he was receiving.

"We'll be happy to do this for you again," Aaron said.

"Yes, this is as much for our enjoyment as it is for yours," Dave said smiling. "We get to let our hands roam all over your body."

"We get to enjoy the texture of your muscles and the skin covering them," Aaron added, as he gently ran a finger over one of the cheeks of Spencer's buttocks, causing Spencer to groan with desire no longer sounding so sleepy, but more aroused.

"Finish what you started," Spencer begged.

"Happy too," Dave said grinning, as he and Aaron exchanged a look.

Aaron's and Dave's hands became more purposeful and instead of going out of their way to massage his muscles until he felt nearly boneless and sleepy they started to get him more and more aroused.

Finally Spencer came all over the bedsheets due to a more vigorous massage from his two favorite men then the more gentle one they had started giving him, which had made him sleepy.

"That was something else," Spencer said shaking his head in amazement, as he finally sat up. "I've never gotten so aroused or came so fast in my life."

"Happy to be of service," Dave grinned.

"Absolutely," Aaron agreed.

"Well, I suppose I'm just going to have to get used to the way that you make my body, so aroused, so fast," Spencer said smiling feeling so relaxed and content that it was almost unreal. That talk with Zola months ago had done him a world of good and although he still had doubts they were slowly vanishing with the coldness of logic and also his emotions of happiness, contentment and love that he hit them with every time they appeared. He was still considering seeing psychologist though, because he doubted they would ever vanish completely until he did so, but he would see.

"I would think you would be used to it by now considering that you've been with us for almost a year now," Aaron said.

"And we dated for eight months before that," Dave added.

"I'm getting there," Spencer admitted. "But it's still unreal that I'm so happy, so that I'm afraid I'm going to wake up and find out it was all a dream. It might not be very realistic..."

"But you can't help the way you feel," Aaron said understandingly.

"Your childhood was so lonely that it's hard to believe that you're so happy now," Dave added, even as two pairs of arms encircled him lovingly, protectively.

"Did you ever think that it was about time that fate or whatever gave you a break?" Aaron asked seriously.

"It was about time something really good happened to someone like you. Someone who basically lived their life by themselves with very little contact with the outside world," Dave suggested. "Even when you were out amongst people, I doubt you talked to anyone in person other then to perhaps order food or talk to Derek or Emily."

Spencer didn't protest what Dave had said, because essentially it was the truth, as he very rarely said more then hello to anyone, though at least he'd had Derek and Emily, so that was something anyway, though they had very rarely touched him, which anybody needed and that was physical contact. However, they had kept him from being even lonelier then he had been and he was grateful.

"Perhaps, 'they' believed it was time to end your loneliness and unhappiness," Aaron added.

"I never believed in something so nebulous as fate before," Spencer admitted.

"And now?" Dave asked.

"I'm not sure I believe in it now, but whatever I did to make someone send me the three of you, well, I'd really like to thank them," Spencer said smiling. "I know how distrustful I was of your intentions at first..."

"Which was only natural considering you never really had anybody in your corner, except for your mother and she is very sick," Aaron said. "Unfortunately, there're still so many diseases that humans haven't found a cure for. You had every reason to be suspicious of our motives, as only a stupid idiot wouldn't have been and you're definitely not one."

"Or someone unaccustomed to how many times people that will take advantage of you if you let them, ones that are out there in supposedly normal society," Dave said.

"In other words, somebody easy to take advantage of," Spencer said. "I won't claim that I couldn't be taken advantage of, but it wouldn't be very easy."

"No, you lost your innocence and trust in humanity a long time ago," Aaron said. "So did I. Who knows what we would have become without Dave and JJ in our lives?"

"You would've turned out just fine, Aaron," Dave said firmly. "I suspect you probably would've gone into some type of law enforcement to stop others from taking advantage of children or anybody else."

"Or maybe as a lawyer," Spencer suggested. "Someone who defends the weak and the innocent."

"I doubt I ever would've become a lawyer," Aaron denied, "as that's what my father was and as you know he wasn't a very nice man, so why would I want to follow in his footsteps?"

"But he wasn't one to defend innocents, so you could have gone into a different field," said Spencer.

"Even if I had turned out alright I doubt I would have ever been able to force myself to get close to another human being," Aaron said. "I never would have seen a psychologist as I know if Dave hadn't insisted, as I never could have forced myself to talk to anyone about what happened."

"It doesn't matter," Dave insisted. "Both your parents are long dead and good riddance I say. As for you Spencer your father won't live more then another few decades and then he'll be gone."

"And when that happens I have no intention of going to his funeral or in mourning him," Spencer said his face expressionless. "I might mourn what should have been, wishing he had been a decent parent, but for the man himself, no."

"And why should you?" Aaron snorted. "He abandoned his family, refused to keep up any kind of contact and even refused to pay child support. You both could have died and likely would have if not for the kindness of your neighbors. He's one of the most irresponsible and despicable people I've heard about in a long time."

"He knew about your mother's condition and knew that she would never be able to work again and you were only a child who had school to worry about," Dave said. "You shouldn't have had to worry where your next meal was coming from or about your mother's condition. You should have been allowed to be a child, even if it was a serious child, like Aaron was."

"If your father had done his job properly you would've been sent to a special school, one for more intelligent children then is average. Someone who shows an aptitude in a particular field or even several fields, math, biology, psychology, sociology, computer science, chemistry, physics and so on," Aaron added.

"You would have met children of your own sort who would be just as intelligent, even if it was in different fields and likely finally made friends. It wasn't even that your father didn't make a bundle as a lawyer he just didn't care enough to do what was best for his son," Dave said spit out in total contempt.

"It is a parent's responsibility to notice when their child excels at something so that arrangements can be made to make sure they are challenged in whatever field they are good at," Aaron said.

"Your father could've hired tutors for example if there was no school nearby for children that were capable of absorbing more at a faster pace or showed an aptitude for a particular field," Dave said. "One reason we send our kids to that particular school is that they have special programs for advanced students and sometimes our children show a special aptitude for one or more of the subjects taught at advanced levels, which better prepares them for college."

"Don't you think I don't know this," Spencer snapped. "Believe me, I would've loved to have gone to a school for children that were just as intelligent as I was, if only because I suspect you're right I probably would have finally made friends."

"We won't mention it again, because we know it hurts you to think about your childhood," Aaron said soothingly. "It doesn't hurt me think about mine, because I came to grips with my past decades ago now, but I still don't like to think about it much. Of course, I've been so happy ever since Dave rescued me at 14 that there's been no reason to think about it very much."

"I'm sorry I snapped at you," Spencer apologized.

"We know that your father and your childhood are still sensitive subjects to you so we won't bring it up again," Dave promised.

"I shouldn't be so sensitive about it, because I know that some children were far worse off than I was and I know you only bring it up to try to get me to deal with it," Spencer said.

"No dealing with it is your prerogative," Aaron said. "But you'll never be able to forget about it because of your eidetic memory. As for me my situation was totally different you were just neglected never raped like I was. It's not that being neglected isn't a kind of abuse it's just not as likely to make you react violently if you encounter the same type of situation in the future."

"Thanks for caring," Spencer said trying to hold his emotions in check.

"You're welcome," Dave told him kissing his cheek. "We just don't like to see you in pain, even if that pains just emotional."

"Sometimes emotional pain can be worse than physical pain," Aaron added wisely. "For one thing it can last much longer, decades really and this is true for immortals and mortals alike."

"I'm doing much better and that's thanks to your love and support along with JJ and Joan of course," Spencer said laughing.

"Not to mention all the kids love their daddy Spencer," Aaron chuckled in amusement, as he remembered how all the kids had flocked around Spencer when he became a regular visitor to their home. Of course, he had always been brought before and never visited on his own until that time where he had just shown up out of the blue and shocked them with his announcement of having figured out that he had fallen in love with them. That confession had been the start of Spencer finally accepting that they loved him and had ever since they had met them, of him finally accepting that he deserved to be loved just like everyone did.

"I'm surprised that they took to me so well I'm not usually very good with children," Spencer said.

"You're better than you think, because you had the children enthralled when you read to them," Dave said smiling. "Frank, especially adores you."

"I certainly don't know why," Spencer said. "After all, I never had a good childhood so how could I be good with children?"

He had been confused as the five children had taken to him instantly.

"You might not have had a good childhood but neither did Aaron," Dave reminded Spencer. "His childhood was worse then yours and yet he's an excellent father."

"Yes, that's true," Spencer said. He hadn't thought of it quite that way, but still, it was true nonetheless.

"Just because you had a crappy childhood doesn't mean you can't be a good parent," Aaron added. "You're more than intelligent enough to do the exact opposite of what your father did. For one thing you give the children your attention, you play with them, read to them, talk to the older ones as if they're intelligent instead of acting like they're stupid or don't understand things just because they're young, which a lot of parents tend to do. You help them with their homework, especially in subjects that they're not as good at and others encourage their interest. Also, they know you love them as children can sense that kind of thing, so really it's no wonder why they all adore you."

Spencer had never thought of it quite like that, but Aaron was right that children could often sense when an adult wasn't what they seemed to be, when they were just faking liking kids to try to make a good impression or for a more nefarious purpose. Adults tended to lose this ability by the time they grew up, although some did keep it.

"Yes, they can," Spencer agreed.

"Also I'm sure you've noticed how you've been more inspired with your photography and that's because you're so happy," Dave added smiling. "Something like photography requires inspiration and inspiration requires you to be happy with your life. You were good at your profession before, but now I suspect you'll be very sought after and you'll become one of the best in time."

"Yes, I know exactly why I've gotten so much better. Emily has already noticed a difference in my work and she teases me that I had better keep being inspired, but I know it's only because she's happy for me that I have finally found someone to settle down with, someone that makes me happy. I know she didn't expect me to ever do that and definitely not with more than one person."

"Probably not, as you don't seem like the type," Aaron agreed. "I'm sure she's more surprised that you decided to take such a chance more than she is about you getting involved with three different people instead of just a single person. You did not come off as very unapproachable you know, which both Dave and I knew was a defense mechanism. Your whole posture has changed in the last year or so though, so that you're much more approachable now than you were when we first met."

"I suppose I did develop a kind of keep away aura for my own defense," Spencer mused. "I suppose I was bullied so severely in high school and college that I just learned to watch out for people like that or really people in general, as some of them never grow out of it."

"Well, you kick a dog one too many times and they're always looking for the next kick," Dave said and Spencer nodded at that, because his situation had been pretty similar in a lot of respects. He had often felt like a kicked dog that wasn't sure of his welcome, so he couldn't honestly tell Dave that his assessment was off, because really it wasn't. That had all changed now though because he knew he was welcome here and that everybody in the house loved him just in different ways.

"So it won't be long before we have triplets to deal with," Spencer said smiling changing the subject.

"Nope, it won't be long," Aaron grinned.

"I can hardly wait," Dave added also grinning.

"Neither can I," Spencer admitted quietly. "I never imagined that I'd have a child of my own. I've been wanting at least a couple for awhile I just never imagined that I'd get close enough to anyone to even propose marriage much less get a woman pregnant. That all changed though when I met the two of you and JJ."

"You'll have plenty of children over the next few centuries, so you'll have way more than just the one or two you wanted," Dave promised him.

"It wasn't a matter of want it was a matter of funds," Spencer said. "I know very well how expensive children are to raise, as I heard my father grumble about it often enough. I never imagined I'd have enough money to have more than a couple and that was only if I got close enough to a woman to actually propose, though I suppose I could have adopted."

"Well, that all changed when you joined us," Aaron said, "as our money became your money, even if we all keep it in separate accounts as well as a joint one."

"Believe me, I know it," Spencer grinned wryly. "I might've put up more of an argument about you giving me access to all of your accounts until you said that you it was just the way you did things and since I knew you were correct I just accepted that was the way things were done."

"Well, good you're sensible then," Dave grinned.

"I just saw I couldn't talk you out of it is what it, so I didn't bother to try," Spencer told the two men. "It might be nice to technically, have all this money but I really don't think I'll ever spend much of it."

"Well, we did open an account in your name when you joined us, a separate one from the one you maintained for your living expenses," Aaron said. "Who knows you'll probably retire from photography at some point. You really should actually in the next 20 years or so or at least you should retire from doing it professionally."

"I suspect that in a few decades you'll be comfortable spending our money if needed and you won't think anything of it," Dave added. "Right now our relationship is still new, and though we love each other you're still uncomfortable about certain things and accepting that our money is your money is one of them."

You'll eventually come to see that what is our is yours, something you you should've had all along as it's perfectly normal. I suspect that you won't even blink about spending money out of one of our accounts, even if it takes a few decades to reach that point." Aaron added.

"Well, we'll see," Spencer said knowing that they were likely right that at some point he would be comfortable spending their money just as much as he was his own.

"Also unlike painting photography is something you can go back to after a significant amount of time has passed," Dave added.

"Just like I carve every once in awhile and sell my pieces," Aaron said. "I even do it by commission sometimes, if a customer is looking for something in particular that they can't find in regular shops."

"I had already realized I wouldn't be a be able to keep up with photography in another 20 or 30 years," Spencer said. "I can take it up again in a century or so if I decide to."

"Oh, you'll be taking lots of pictures of our children and us," Dave grinned, "so I wouldn't plan on hanging up your camera anytime soon, even if you don't do it professionally ever again once you retire."

"Now that's a pleasant thought," Spencer smiled.

The three of them just sat on the bed cuddling together before they finally decided it was time to emerge and check on JJ to see how she was doing.

"Well, this has been a rather pleasant interlude for the most part," Spencer said.

"Yes, we enjoyed it too," Aaron said smiling kissing Spencer's cheek. "We'll have to do it again sometime when JJ and Joan are busy elsewhere."

"Don't worry about JJ being left out, as each of us spend individual time with each other when we need to and none of us is insulted if we're not included. We can't be together all the time, even if we do spend the majority of our time together," Dave said. "You'll learn that spending time with just one of us is a good way to maintain a healthy relationship with that person."

"Besides, we don't all share the same interests," Aaron said. "We might have many similar interests, but they're not all the same."

"They're not supposed to be, because it is such a thing as being too close," Spencer said logically. "You might share many similar interest, but if you shared every single one you would be clones of each other, instead of individuals."

"That's it exactly," Dave said not surprised that Spencer had understood what he and Aaron we're trying to say, because he already knew that Spencer was a genius in many ways, even if he was shy and awkward in social situations, though he was improving immensely there to. It would just take time, Dave knew, so they would all just have to be patient.

The three of them climbed off the bed and Spencer got dressed and Dave and Aaron waited patiently on him before they exited the bedroom together feeling better for the interaction.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~


	13. Chapter 13

Part 13

"Welcome to the family little one," Spencer said, as the held his daughter tenderly. It was easy to tell that the little girl was his, because of her crop of brown fluff that was lighter then his own, since the other two men in his life had black hair, though since brown hair ran in nearly every caucasian family it was likely that both Dave and Aaron had closely related brown haired ancestors.

"Yes, welcome to the family," Aaron said holding one of the boys that had been born from JJ's womb tenderly. Spencer's daughter was the only girl among the three not that any of them were unhappy about that.

"I never imagined that I'd have any children of my own," Spencer said his emotions feeling a little out-of-control, but then he was so incredibly happy it wasn't surprising.

"Well, your life has changed considerably in the last couple of years," Dave told him understanding what Spencer was feeling very well, as he had certainly felt the same way when he had held his first child in his arms

"Yes, it has, but it has all been good changes, instead of bad like I'm used to," Spencer agreed quietly, as he studied the tiny face of his daughter. "She's so beautiful."

"She already has you wrapped around her little finger, doesn't she?" Aaron teased him, while concealing his own emotions.

"Tell me, the same thing didn't happen to you when you held your first child in your arms," Spencer challenged him.

"He's got you there, Aaron," Dave said quietly smiling. "We both understand the emotions that Spencer is feeling right now when our first children were born. Of course, we always feel the same emotion to a lesser degree every time we do have a child and it doesn't matter whose it is."

"Yes we do," Aaron agreed smiling a little.

"We'll just have Zola do a DNA test to confirm paternity in case we ever need to know that information for some reason," Dave said. "We do this for all our children, particularly in the case of triplets, because who knows if the information will come in useful someday. For instance my mother has brown hair so it's very possible that the little girl is mine, as we have had brown haired children."

"My father had black like I do, but my mother had a kind of brownish blonde," Aaron added. "I admit that while a great majority of our kids have black hair there have been a few with blond, brown and even a brownish blond."

"Go ahead and do the paternity test I just know this little girl going to turn out to be mine," said Spencer smiling.

"It doesn't matter really," Dave said. "I know we'll love all of them and I know that the older children will be overjoyed to have some siblings."

"Well, they do do seem to be pretty well grounded as they have been excited through the whole pregnancy," Spencer admitted. "I know some children though would resent having a new baby in the house, much less three of them."

"Yes, children do like to be the center of attention and can take it to the extreme sometimes," Aaron said.

"But on the other hand, we've had children every two years so that the oldest ones didn't have a chance to get too spoiled. Of course, these three are four years apart or nearly so from the others, but still, our kids are mature enough to know that we aren't going to love them any less just because there're some new additions to the household," Dave said.

"Except maybe Frank who's a bit too young to probably care one way or the other," Aaron said.

"You might be wrong about that as Frank is an intelligent lad, but all the children are," said Spencer. "I well remember being that age and being much smarter than most adults in my life gave me credit for. Not my mother so much, but my father definitely."

"Well maybe," Aaron conceded. "He doesn't even start kindergarten until next year.

"He could start a year early as he is already showing the skills necessary," Spencer said.

"But the question is, is he emotionally ready?" Dave said. "His mental and emotional maturity have a lot to do with how ready he really is. Besides, if you think JJ is going to allow any of her children to go earlier than they absolutely have to..."

"Yes, JJ has a hard enough time letting our five-year-olds go to school," Aaron agreed.

"Yes, she loves her kids so much," Spencer said smiling. "I can imagine how hard it's going to be to let this little one go to kindergarten when the time comes, so I can certainly understand why JJ has trouble letting them get out into the big bad world. Some parents are just glad to get rid of their kids for a few hours at first, then as they get older, practically all day, five days a week."

"But that's not us," Aaron said. "We really miss our kids once they're gone, although we do enjoy the peace and quiet."

"Yes, the house seems so empty when the children are at school or we don't have any children at present," Dave agreed

"Yes, but we always live in a condo or something we've decided to give having children a break," Aaron pointed out.

"If you ask me taking breaks in between having children is only logical. It gives all of us time to work on our relationship while we don't have to worry about looking after a bunch of children. We're free to do anything we want until we decide we're ready to have some more," Spencer pointed out.

"Yes, we agree with you, as we've taken some nice long breaks from having children, as for one thing you give JJ a chance to relax and not have to worry about what she does. Also she doesn't have to worry about losing all that weight that she gains when she's pregnant, which is especially true with triplets since you have to gain so much more weight then you do with a singleton," said Dave.

"And of course, it gives us time to do whatever we want, whether that's travel the world or just settle in one city, but not have to worry about late night or early morning feedings, or anything else that goes along with having young children in the house," Aaron added.

"While I'm looking forward to that day I'm also looking forward to seeing my daughter grow and change. The other children to of course," Spencer smiled.

"Yeah, it won't be long before Caro's starting college," Dave sighed. "They grow up so fast on you, as I can still remember when she was just a tiny thing, sitting in my lap, while I read to her."

"We have to let the children go when they grow up," Spencer said not unsympathetic to Dave's feelings. "I have a feeling I'm going to have the same problem when this little one is old enough to be out on her own, but luckily, that's a couple of decades from now."

"Which will pass fast believe me," Aaron said looking wistful.

"Well, let's not worry about that right now, right now we need to name these cuties," Dave said.

The three men discussed names quietly while JJ slept in the same bed she had to C-section in, because she had not yet woken from the anesthesia that Zola had given her, but once she did she would have a say in what they decided to name the three beautiful babies.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

"Christmas is upon us again soon," Spencer mentioned.

"Yeah, it's hard to believe that the triplets will soon be over a year old," JJ sighed.

The triplets had been born in November right before Thanksgiving last year.

"Yes, the time has passed fast," Aaron agreed smiling.

"The reason it has is because we've all been so happy," Dave pointed out logically. "Time tends to go faster when you're happy with your life."

"Now that's the truth," Spencer smiled. "I've been so happy lately, certainly far happier then when you first discovered me."

"And yet you were so afraid of us you wanted to bolt originally," JJ teased him.

"That's not why I wanted to bolt," Spencer told his three mates.

"Oh, why then?" Aaron asked looking at Spencer curiously. "If it wasn't fear, why did you want to runaway?"

Spencer wasn't sure he should tell them exactly why he had wanted to bolt, but with all three of them looking at him he knew he really had no choice.

"Because I was so attracted to all three of you and I didn't understand why," Spencer finally revealed. "I barely stopped myself from jumping you right there in a public place with your kids present. I had never felt anything like it and I wasn't sure what was going on. I certainly didn't expect it."

"Well, we kind of did, so we were able to control ourselves better, though it wasn't easy for us either," Dave said.

"Yes, thanks to Arya's warning," Spencer said nodding. His mates had told him absolutely everything refusing to keep any secrets from him and Aaron had even told him all about his childhood, which had been much worse than his own, something that had been heavily hinted at before it was fully revealed.

"So what are we going to do for Christmas?" JJ asked. "Take a vacation maybe, with the kids?"

"I think that the triplets are a bit too young for that right now," Aaron suggested. "They wouldn't know what's really going on, so it will be better if we just stick around home this year. We'd probably spend so much time making sure that they didn't get lost or into mischief that we probably wouldn't enjoy ourselves much."

"Yes, I agree," Spencer said. "Perhaps in a couple years when they've grown up some we might take a vacation before Caro starts college."

"Alright then, we will go to the old standby," Dave agreed.

The old standby was basically having Christmas at home. Dave baked a great deal during the Christmas season not only for his family, but for some of the homeless shelters around the city. The four of them went all out, bought the biggest Christmas tree they could find to set in the den and then they all decorated as a family. All this occurred at the very beginning of December and it was just past Thanksgiving now. Also one of them strung Christmas lights up outside the house, although they certainly didn't go as overboard as some people did. Some people just didn't know how to do Christmas decoration to where it was tasteful instead of gaudy.

"I'll take the kids shopping for a tree tomorrow since it'll be the weekend," Aaron suggested. "All except for the triplets as they are a bit too young to participate this year."

"They'll grow up fast, but I agree," JJ said. "They are only a little over a year old after all."

"Yes, usually by three they're old enough to participate and also understand what's going on better," Dave said.

"I usually take a lot of pictures around this time as you know," Spencer said. "People like the Christmas scenes, with snow on the ground or Christmas decorations hung, but when I'm not doing that I'll be happy to help out as I certainly enjoyed myself last year. In fact, it was the best Christmas I've had in many a year, since I was a kid actually."

The other three said nothing, but knew perfectly well why Spencer's Christmases hadn't been great even as a kid, but then Aaron's hadn't been much better really. Oh no, Aaron hadn't received toys as a kid as his parents were very practical minded. He had received clothes and supplies for school and maybe a few books although even they had been of practical use and definitely weren't anything like fiction, sci-fi or fantasy novels. Aaron's parents philosophy had been we feed and clothe you and that should be more than enough. No, Aaron's Christmases as a child had been just as miserable as Spencer's had been, even if it was for a different reason. At least Spencer's mother had tried to make it cheerful for her son, but his father's miserable attitude had wrecked everyone's Christmas spirit and things that been even worst after he had left.

Over the years though, Aaron had learned to really love Christmas with his family because they always did something to make sure that everyone enjoyed themselves. Spencer also was learning how to appreciate Christmas thanks to his new family, but it would take time for him to fully immerse himself into the season.

"Alright then, we have a plan," Dave smiled. "I'm looking forward to celebrating my second Christmas with all my mates and my children."

Spencer blushed at this because Dave's gaze had landed on him specifically and it was so warm that it made Spencer feel all flushed, even in the chilly air.

It was still amazing to him that he was so welcome among these three people and that the children seemed to adore him, as he had been alone for so long, that he was still getting used to the fact that he was actually wanted, even though it had been quite awhile now. Zola had been right why should he give his father's words credence because he had never had his son's best interest in mind after all. Still, overcoming childhood training wasn't easy, but he was making progress, which was really all that mattered.

Spencer would just throw his father's words back in his face by enjoying himself to the fullest, even if he never knew it and that would be his revenge.

"I'm looking forward to it to, because last year was the best Christmas I've had in many years and that's all thanks to the three of you, plus Joan and the children of course," said Spencer kissing Dave on the cheek then repeated the gesture for Aaron and JJ.

"Well, let's go tell Joan our plan," Dave said smiling. "I'm sure she'll be happy to stick around to help out, even if she goes visit her sister and her family on Christmas Eve or sometime during the season anyway."

The other three nodded and then went about the activities that they had already planned for the day.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

"This is really nice," Spencer said.

The four of them were walking in downtown Philadelphia, which was covered in Christmas decorations, each with an ice cream cone of their favorite flavor.

"Yes, it really is," JJ said, as she took a lick of her ice cream cone. "It's nice to just see all the Christmas decorations and enjoy each others company, no children, no interruptions."

"So have we finished buying all the children's presents?" Dave asked, "Or is there something we need to get at the last minute?"

"We have pretty much finished all the Christmas shopping," Aaron said. "It's good that we always start in early November though and that way we don't wear ourselves out buying everything all at once, considering there are eight children in the house."

"I think it's a good strategy to buy over a period of a couple of months and then just hide the presents until Christmas is actually here," Spencer said. "Considering we have such a large family to buy for why wear ourselves out?"

"Yes, I agree," JJ said. "I might love to shop, but buying for so many people at the same time, would wear me to the bone every year and probably drive me insane to boot."

"Well, we do help you out with Christmas shopping, but still, why rush it and risk missing something," Dave said. "Luckily, Christmas is only once a year where we have to buy for so many people at the same time."

"There are always birthdays, but that's only for one person not for such a large group, so it's easier to shop," Spencer mentioned.

"Definitely," Aaron agreed. "Even if some of our children's have birthdays in the same month, we can still get it done all at once or make several trips, but still, it isn't as nerve-wrecking as Christmas always is."

"Yes, Christmas is always nerve-wrecking particularly buying all those presents for the kids and each other," Dave said, "but none of us would have it any other way and it's only once a year."

"And at least we don't wait until the last minute to buy Christmas presents for people," said Aaron.

"Too many people do it that way, because they are so busy with work or because they basically forget about Christmas," Spencer said, "so it's no wonder that Christmas drives a lot of people crazy. I think the way that we do it is much smarter and it's also easier on us. We buy a few things at a time instead of trying to get it all done in a week or two or even just a few days, but then most people don't have our large family either."

"Those that have more than one spouse probably do, unless it's all guys, so there're no children involved," Dave suggested. "Well, unless there are kids from previous relationships, which does happen a lot of times I know. Still, there're plenty of good marriages out there that have no children, either because they had no success in trying to have them, they're all guys or the children are all grown up."

"That's true, but still, even in a group marriage there usually aren't more than three or four children, not eight like we currently have."

"Soon to be nine, because I agree with you," JJ told Spencer. "You deserve at least two children of your own this go around."

Spencer's face lit up that and he kissed JJ's cheek the only gesture he allowed himself while out in public.

"Thanks," was all Spencer said. "One would've been more than enough, since I know I was going to have more, even if that's not for 20 years or more, but still, I would love to have at least two kids of my own."

"And you more than deserve it," Dave told Spencer while JJ and Aaron nodded in agreement. "I mean I had four and Aaron had three, so you deserve at least two of your own."

"I was all prepared to have another by Aaron to before we learned from Arya that we were going to find our last mate soon, so we decided to hold off on that," JJ added. "This will be my last one for awhile though and I was going to stop with the triplets but figured Spencer deserves at least one more, since he didn't join us until after five of our kids were already born."

"After this, we'll all have an equal number of children whether that's one, two or three apiece, just to keep things fair," Dave said. "Our relationship is built on honesty and fairness and it's what prevents so many arguments."

"Yes, that's true," Aaron said quietly nodding in agreement. "It's why if we were mortal our marriage wouldn't break up like a lot of them do. If other marriages made honesty and fairness the cornerstone of their lives, then they would likely stay together, instead of divorcing, though that's not a certainty of anything, just a more likely possibility."

"It's certainly something I appreciate," Spencer said. "I know it's one of the main reasons that our relationship is working out so well, because I know I can trust you to be honest. Honesty is a big thing with me, as you are well aware. I agree also with your comment of a minute ago, Aaron. I won't say that honesty and fairness would save every marriage from breaking up, but I do believe however, that if more spouses were honest with each other at least, that it would help a lot of marriages stay together."

"That I agree with," Dave said, as he finished his ice cream. "It's one of the reasons that I insisted on complete honesty from the beginning, even if going behind your spouses back in order to cheat on them with another isn't going to happen with us because of the bond."

"Still, insisting on honesty means you have no reason to distrust your partners for any reason," JJ said smiling. "I think that's something all of us can appreciate."

"Definitely," Spencer said smiling, as he to finished his ice cream.

The four of them strolled side by side soaking in the Christmas atmosphere, as they continued to talk quietly, just enjoying each other's company, without the kids around to make demands or to distract them.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

"Mommy, daddies, it's Christmas," Frank who was now 5 year old cried, as he came into their bedroom along with Andrea who was seven and jumped on the bed.

"Come on, time for presents," Andrea begged.

"Well, it looks like we have a wake up committee," JJ smiled opening her eyes.

"And would you have it any other way?" Spencer asked JJ also smiling. He could hardly believe that the triplets were over a year old now because the time had passed like the wind.

"Definitely not," JJ said, as all four of the adults rose from the bed, Dave carrying his son under his arm like a sack of potatoes, which was making Frank squeal happily. "If children can't get excited about Christmas, well then, life isn't really worth living, is it?"

"We need to get the triplets dressed, but we'll meet you downstairs," Aaron told Andrea and Frank, who Dave had finally released and put on his feet.

The two children nodded knowing by now that their triplet siblings, were too young to get dressed by themselves.

"I'll let you get the triplets dressed," JJ said. "I had better head downstairs and keep the children out of the presents."

"That's a good idea," Dave said, smiling.

"We'll be downstairs probably in 15 minutes or so," Aaron added.

"With all three of us to do it it'll probably be a little bit less than that," Spencer said. "After all, we know how to change diapers with speed and efficiency now."

JJ headed downstairs while the three men headed to the nursery.

A few minutes later Aaron, Dave and Spencer came downstairs each with a baby in their arms.

"Well, that's a record that took about eight minutes," JJ said looking the clock on the mantle.

"Well, we didn't want to keep these munchkins waiting," Spencer smiled.

"So let's open presents before I prepare breakfast," Dave said.

All the children cheered, except for the triplets who were a bit too young to really know what was going on.

Spencer started handing out presents without a word as he well remembered from the previous couple of years how it was done, although really this was only his second Christmas as a married man. However, when they had been just dating the three had made sure that he had enjoyed the Christmas season, something he hadn't done, since he was a young child of less then seven. His family had started to break up by then, even if his father had not left until he was 10, but Spencer had known that it was coming so hadn't been surprised when it had actually happened

JJ started to help him hand out presents, because there was quite a few, since there were now eight children in the house, plus five adults.

"Alright, kids rip them," Aaron ordered with a smile once all the presents were finally handed out and there was a sizable pile in front of each child including the newest additions to the family.

All the children did so with enthusiasm including the two oldest Caro and Wes.

All the adults in the room watched this with smiles as they watched their kids rip paper to where it went flying absolutely everywhere.

Spencer watched this smiling and thinking he hadn't had such a good Christmas in many years, other than the last couple of years of course. Of course, even as a child his Christmases hadn't been spectacular mostly because of his father's rather sour attitude, which absolutely ruined the whole holiday. His mother had tried her best to make it special for him, but his father's presence had darkened it.

"I think our three newest addition need help opening their presents," Spencer said, smiling.

"They always do at that age," Joan commented smiling at the destruction. "They're a bit too young to really understand what's going on. It'll be a couple of years before they can really participate."

"Yes, they are, but they'll remember the emotions of happiness and joy as they are soaking it up like all children do at that age. Children who had happy childhoods tend to be happier adults and they might not remember exactly why that is, but it all has to do with how happy and content the adults were around them. If the adults yelled at each other a lot the children no matter how young will pick that up."

"Well, our children, grow up happy," JJ smiled, as she helped, one of the youngest son open a present.

"Yes, that's true, but then there's not much arguing between us, though we do so sometimes of course, since it's impossible to get along all the time," Dave admitted honestly.

"Yes, we do, but the three of you argue far less then my mom and dad ever did," Spencer said. "Though I freely admit it was mostly my father that caused the arguments, but I know sometimes my mom would get so frustrated with him. I know the difference now, but I certainly didn't when I was a kid, no matter how intelligent I was. The difference is that we really love each other and although we do argue a little, that's only a natural part of any relationship. I know now that my father really didn't love my mother at all."

"Let's just forget about him even though I know you really can't," Aaron suggested. "Still, there's no reason to dwell on your crappy childhood, even if you can't really forget it."

"Let's just enjoy Christmas," Dave added.

Spencer nodded and dropped the subject as he could understand his husbands not wanting to discuss his father as it just upset them to do so, mostly because they had hated how much pain William Reid had caused his son, even if that pain was only emotional. As Dave and Aaron had pointed out on several occasions however, sometimes emotional pain could be worse because it lasted much longer then physical pain, sometimes decades or even all of someone's life, while physical pain like a broken bone ended in a week due to advances in medical technology.

"Alright, kids, go get dressed," JJ finally ordered with a smile. "Your dad will start breakfast."

The kids cheered and raced upstairs leaving quite a mess behind them.

Joan started to clean up the but Dave shook his head. "We can worry about that after breakfast."

"Besides, we still have our presents to open so there's no point to clean up until we do," Spencer added smiling.

"I suppose not," Joan agreed looking at the mess. The living room looked as if a tornado had hit it as wrapping paper was absolutely everywhere.

"I had better start breakfast before the kids come back down," Dave said smiling not seeming to care about the mess.

"We'll take care of these three," Aaron said meaning the three youngest who were not yet capable of walking very far on their own.

Dave disappeared into the kitchen while Spencer picked up his daughter and Aaron and Joan picked up the two boys who were content to just to be held since they were still so young.

It had been proven that the little girl that had been born along with her brothers was indeed Spencer's daughter just as he had instinctively known she was.

Spencer looked around the living room and smiled in contentment, even as he cradled his daughter on his hip. This was the way life should be he knew and he was so glad that he had taken a leap of faith when he had met JJ, Dave and Aaron because he had never been so happy in his life and he made sure that his three partners knew it.

He had never imagined that he would be so content and happy with his life, but indeed he was and he knew that he loved the three of them enough to last for an eternity and beyond.

He finally knew deep down that his father's predictions and hateful words doing his childhood were wrong and he could burn in hell as far as Spencer was concerned.

Spencer entered the kitchen with his daughter on his hip, putting her in her high chair before he sat down and watched Dave cook a massive breakfast for all of them.

Finally the other kids came right back downstairs after having gotten dressed and Spencer smiled as they came into the kitchen thinking that this was what life was all about, having a home and a family, which was something that his father had never really understood.

"Need any help?" Spencer asked smiling. "We've got to get this hoard fed, before they devour the kitchen table."

"You can do some toast if you want," Dave answered smiling.

Spencer nodded and got up from his seat before he went to do some toast for breakfast a perfectly ordinary activity, which was probably one of the reasons that Spencer loved doing it so much. He loved doing it because he loved his family, he loved doing things with them, watching the vid screen, playing a game or just being in the same room doing different activities. Really, he just loved spending time with various members of his family, though he still left for large portions of the day to take his photographs. This peaceful unity was something that his father had never understood much less achieved with his own family, not that William Reid mattered now.

Spencer almost wished father could see him now, see how happy he was, but Spencer knew that he would only cause problems if he did know about his marriage, so was just as well if he never found out.

Spencer fixed a whole loaf of bread, because he knew there were eight children in the house along with five adults, so it would be gone in no time.

The children came stampeding into the kitchen then and all took their places at the huge kitchen table that Aaron had made himself, just as Dave delivered the first wave of food.

"Eat up everyone," Dave said, as he delivered bacon and eggs along with the toast that Spencer had prepared.

Spencer smiled as the 5 older children chowed down on their food, before he then started to help feed the three younger ones.

This was really what life is all about and he was incredibly content and knew he would remain so for eternity and that was more then enough for him.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~


	14. Chapter 14

Epilogue

"Well, you are certainly cheerful this morning," Aaron smiled, as he caught Spencer whistling softly.

"I have every right to be," Spencer told Aaron. "It's hard to believe that we've been together for 25 years, but we have and it's been absolutely wonderful. I never imagined that I could be so happy, as I imagined that I was fated to be alone for all of my life. All the children are grown and out of the house, so it's just the four of us, right now and it's certainly been peaceful the last couple of years."

"Yeah, I understand what you mean," Aaron admitted candidly. "My life was more than miserable to before Dave rescued me. I do miss the kids, but it's been rather nice with just the four of us again. Of course, you've never experienced our family without any children around until recently, since Xander just started college."

Xander was Spencer's and JJ son, that hadn't been planned for at all. Xander was Spencer's third child and the only boy. It had happened totally by accident as JJ had forgotten to get her birth control implant renewed and usually she was very conscientious about that. The implant, which was put in the arm was good for up to 5 years and once removed fertility quickly returned. The implant released Levonorgestrel, which was a medication used to stop fertility by not allowing a woman's eggs to be released and was very effective.

However, in this case, JJ had gotten so busy she had just forgotten and it hadn't taken long for her to get pregnant after the medication had run out. The child had turned out to be Spencer's in that case and he was happy to finally get a son, as his last two children had been daughters. His son had been a rather unexpected bonus, as there was no way that JJ would've gotten rid of the fetus, no matter how unexpected. The two oldest children Caro and Wesley had been in college when it happened, but were happy nonetheless about getting a new sibling. Most teenagers would have considered it rather embarrassing that their mother had gotten pregnant considering that she had nine kids, two who were college age and one who was about to start the following year, but that was not the case with the oldest children.

"I never expected to get a third child when JJ had already said that she wasn't having anymore right then, but I was very happy when it happened."

"Who wouldn't be?" Aaron chuckled. "JJ is usually more careful about getting her implant renewed when she doesn't want children right then, since you can forget to take a pill, but it is possible for her to be distracted, so she forgets which is what happened when she found out she was pregnant with Xander.

"Yes, he was a very happy surprise," Spencer admitted smiling, as he thought of his son. "I wasn't unhappy with having two girls, you know I adore them, but still, I wanted a son and I really didn't expect to get one until after JJ was ready to have more children in a few decades.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with wanting a son or a daughter for that matter," Aaron said as he stocked shelves with photographs.

Spencer had opened up his own shop about five years ago after he had retired from being a full-time free-lance photographer. It had been a dream of his for some time to open up shop that sold not only photographs but all types of cameras and everything that went with them, but he'd never figured on having the money for it, since he didn't want to risk getting a loan from a bank.

His three mates had been happy to help in opening a shop and all four of them contributed money equally so that they were all part owners and this way Spencer didn't have to use all his own money or get a loan. Aaron, Dave and JJ also helped out in the shop as it gave them something to do for a few hours every week. So far the shop was doing splendidly, but then Dave and Aaron knew a thing or two about business and made sure that Spencer's shop was successful, as they wanted him to succeed since it gave him confidence.

"No, there is not, just so long as you don't treat your son or daughter like crap because you wanted the other sex," Spencer said, responding to Aaron's comment.

"Something that happens far too often," Aaron admitted, even as he continued to stock shelves.

"Yeah, it does," Spencer admitted, helping Aaron with stocking shelves. "Well, I think that's about it," Spencer added, as he checked all the shelves to make sure they were full.

"It's a good thing, because we're supposed to open in five minutes," Aaron said checking his watch.

"Why don't you go unlock the door," Spencer suggested.

Aaron did as ordered and the two men waited for when the clock chimed nine. Finally the clock chimed nine an Aaron turned the close sign to open, since he was the one standing by the door.

"You know this is a dream come true for me," Spencer said just looking at all the things for sale. Cameras, tripods, photos, batteries, chargers for the batteries, cords for the cameras so that the photographs could be transferred to computer and many more items that had something to do with photography.

"And you know that all of us were happy to help you fulfill it," Aaron said. "You could even turn it into a whole chain if you wanted to and Dave and I would be glad to help you with that."

"That's a possibility," Spencer said smiling at the thought. "After all, I'm immortal, so I'm not going to die anytime soon and I can always pretend to be my son or my grandson if necessary."

"Who knows maybe some of the kids will want to work in this place someday," Aaron suggested.

"Well, if they want to take it over at some point or one of the other stores if I do turn it into a chain, well, I wouldn't object as I'd like to keep it going," Spencer said. "I'm sure I'll want to do something else at some point, though I'll still lend a hand if necessary."

"So will all of us," Aaron said.

"I know and I'm grateful," Spencer said. "I certainly haven't been lonely in 25 years and I suppose I'm still marveling at the fact that I've been happy for all that time."

"I did the same thing for a long time after Dave rescued me," Aaron admitted candidly. "When your life has been full of shit for so long you can't help but marvel when things start to get better and then turn out much better than you ever expected. Both of us were like stray dogs who had been kicked so often that we really weren't sure of our welcome anywhere, but luckily, we had a guardian angel in the form of David Rossi and in your case also JJ and myself."

"I never thought of it like that," Spencer mused, even as he kept himself busy.

"I wasn't really a very fanciful child, as my parents didn't exactly encourage me to read scifi or fantasy or watch it on the vid screen, but I couldn't help but think of Dave at first as some kind of guardian angel that had come to smite my enemies. I never told him this though, as that impression faded fairly quickly and I wouldn't want him to get a big head," Aaron added with a mischievous twinkle in his dark eyes.

Both men chuckled quietly at this, for Dave did tend to be arrogant sometimes, though it was almost never consciously for the most part. The arrogance came from being supremely confident in yourself and your abilities, so that sometimes Dave came off that way, but then so did Aaron occasionally. Spencer loved them despite that though because for one thing everybody had their faults and for another it wasn't usually directed at him or JJ, but somebody who had ticked either Dave or Aaron off for whatever reason.

"One of us would soon deflate his head if he did get one," Spencer said, smiling.

"That we would," agreed Aaron, smiling as well.

They stopped talking as the little bell over the front door rang telling them that somebody was entering the shop.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

"Can I help you ma'am?" Spencer asked politely, as a beautiful woman entered the shop. The woman was older Spencer judged, probably around the age he was technically supposed to be. He had been 35 when Dave, Aaron and JJ had gotten their hands on him and 36 by the time he'd been turned immortal.

The woman looked around the shop, not seeming to know what she was looking for so she was probably a first-time customer to a place like this.

"Actually, I was looking for Spencer Reid and I found out that he owned this place," the woman said.

"Why were you looking for me?" Spencer asked in surprise.

"You're Spencer Reid?" The woman asked in surprise. "You look far too young..."

"I've been told that before," Spencer laughed. "Consider it clean living and the fact that I've been happy for a long time now. People age according to their life experiences and those who are miserable or just have a sour attitude age faster. "

"This is true," the woman admitted, as she studied the handsome man who really didn't look more than 40 or so and he looked on the really young side of that age. She knew from her background check that Spencer Reid was supposedly just over 60, but the man before her certainly didn't look it.

"By the way, I'm Spencer Rossi now and have been for 25 years," Spencer told the lady.

"Oh, I beg your pardon," the women said surprised now knowing why she had had so much trouble tracking Spencer down. It had never occurred to her or those she worked for that he might've changed his last name.

"So if I may ask why were you looking for me?" Spencer asked with curiosity in his eyes.

"Well, you see your father..." The lady began.

"Wait a minute lady whoever you are," Spencer said stopping in the woman in midsentence. "I haven't talked to my father in nearly 50 years and I haven't really thought about him ever since I got married as I was finally happy. Whatever he wants..."

"He's dead," the lady interrupted, somewhat surprised by Spencer's vehemence. She had known that Spencer's father William had never talked about his son, but when he did he claimed that his mother had left him. However, she was beginning to suspect that Will had been outright lying or at least stretching the truth to make himself look better, as men did that to salve their bruised egos all the time. It was clear to her that Spencer still had wounds from what had happened to him as a kid, emotional ones at the very least and she knew from Spencer's words that his anger was directed at his father instead of his mother. What this told her was that it was likely William Reid had abandoned his wife and son instead of the other way around as she had been told, as that was simple logic.

Spencer would be mad at his mother if it was Diana Reid that had abandoned his father taking his son with her. From Spencer's reaction she guessed that Will hadn't even bother to pay child support or at least that was her suspicion, as she wasn't naïve about how cruel people could be. Yes, even a parent who was supposed to love their child or children.

"Alright, fine he's dead you've delivered your message now you can go home and forget you ever saw me as harsh as that is," Spencer said abruptly. "He would've been around 90, so I'm not too surprised, even if people can live to 200 nowadays. If you came to tell me that there is going to be a funeral sometime in the next week or two well, I'll tell you now I won't be attending and I definitely won't be mourning him."

That was more than anger at his abandonment by one of his parental figures, the woman thought. She could guess very well that his childhood hadn't been very pleasant, he had likely been neglected at the very least as Will could be a harsh man and often critical and while those traits were useful as a lawyer sometimes, the same couldn't be said when it came to somebody's family life. She had been around the block a few times and she could guess very well that Will had been very critical of his son probably pointing out his supposed faults on a regular basis and children were very impressionable, even intelligent ones.

"We couldn't find you in time for the funeral and now I know it would have been useless," the woman said. "I never did get a chance to introduce myself as you kind of stopped me, although I can understand why. I'm Lita Madison and I work as an attorney at the same firm that your father did. We had known each other for many years before his sudden death."

"If you'll pardon me, but all I have to say is good riddance. I'm not going to lie considering you already know I at least heartily disliked my father," Spencer said. "This is not my normal form of hospitality though, so why don't you tell me why you tracked me down I know it couldn't have been easy because I changed my name deliberately after I married Dave, Aaron and Jennifer. Rossi was originally Dave's last name and since Aaron and JJ did the same so did I."

"No wonder we had such a hard time locating you," Lita said wryly. "It never occurred to any of the partners that your father's firm that you had changed your last name, since most men don't whenever they tie the knot."

"I know," Spencer shrugged. "I figured it would be much harder to locate me if I did, so even though I never expected my father or anybody else from him to try to contact me, so really it was just a precaution, but mostly because the other two had done so. I didn't really expect anybody to show up and mention my father's name considering I was on my own for over 20 years before I met Dave, Aaron and JJ and therefore, still carried his last name."

"Well, considering it's been 45 years I'm not surprised, as that's practically lifetime," Lita said smiling a little.

"So what can I do for you since you went all this trouble to track me down and I'm well aware that it couldn't have been easy, especially since it didn't occur to you to check marriage records or that I might've changed my last name," Spencer asked much more calmly.

"Well, see your father left quite a bit of money..." Lita begin to explain.

"I don't want it," Spencer said immediately. "I don't need it come to that, as I make plenty with my shop here and I made plenty as a freelance photographer before I semiretired. Even if I didn't there's no way that my husbands or my wife would allow me to starve, but I make my own way. I'm still fairly independent at least where it concerns money, but it's nice to have people to fall back on if needed."

"He also left three children," Lita added.

"But he was like 90 years old," Spencer protested looking disgusted.

"You are way aware that a man doesn't ever stop producing sperm," Lita said delicately.

"And therefore, can still get a woman pregnant until he's dead," Spencer finished. "I was aware of that yes, and I know some men still have the energy of one much younger, even at an advanced age or they take something so they do. I just have a hard time imagining a woman who's still young enough to get pregnant having anything to do with an old man, as he would have been at least twice her age, maybe more."

"I can't blame you, as I have a hard time dealing with that image to, as it would be like robbing the cradle," Lita admitted candidly, shuddering a little. "However, I'm sure you know that your father..."

"Wasn't against being with a much younger woman. Some men feel they are losing their masculinity and youth once they get to a certain age and so go for a much younger woman to try to regain their lost youth," Spencer supplied. "I think 50 or 60 years age difference is ridiculous, even though I'm well aware that it happens."

Like with me, Dave, Aaron and JJ though in our case they definitely don't look older than I do and I believe that our relationship is a little different from my father's. I can't really see my father loving this woman and that he got pregnant with triplets and not just because of the age difference, but because I don't believe my father is capable of truly loving someone.

"So what about my half siblings mother?" Spencer asked.

"She died just recently," Lita supplied. "Even if she hadn't, well, she didn't have the money by herself to take care of the triplets and Will didn't leave the mother anything to help pay their expenses, not even for basic necessities."

"So how did this woman die and what was her name?" asked Spencer suddenly.

"She took her own life actually, suicide," Lita said. "She slashed her own wrists while the children were out with a friend and unfortunately, they found the body when they returned. She left a note saying something along the lines that she couldn't go on with the death of the man she loved. As for her age she was about 57. As for her name it was Astra Masters, who was still a very gorgeous woman, despite her age, but then some people age well like yourself for instance, because you certainly don't look over sixty."

Spencer winced at that and felt sympathy for his half siblings. "So that means they would've been born sometime in the last decade," Spencer said. "I must admit I'm surprised she survived the birth, especially of triplets as a lot of older woman do not, even though medical technology has improved a great deal in the last decade alone. As for the suicide note all I can think is she was either the stupidest, most naive woman alive to fall for my father charms or she really loved the bastard and if that's the case there is no accounting for taste."

"That's harsh, but also true," Lita admitted really beginning to like William's oldest son, as he told it like it was. Will had had many faults, but she had never imagined him capable of abandoning his wife and son. As much as she hated to think it, Will likely hadn't even paid child support if Spencer's reaction was anything to go by. She couldn't help but wonder what had caused Will to abandon his son if what she suspected was true.

"This is not the place to talk about this," Spencer said finally. "Luckily, you came at the time of day when I don't usually get many customers and in fact am, about to close for the night. I already sent Aaron home. I apologize for my poor behavior."

"Accepted, but I do understand," Lita said. "I did kind of hit you with a very sensitive subject out of nowhere, even if I wasn't aware I was doing so. We all have subjects that we are sensitive about and you hadn't thought about your father in decades."

"Thank you," Spencer said, smiling a little. "I'm inviting you to my home where you can meet my mates. You can have dinner with us, as Dave is a terrific cook. We can talk about this subject afterwards."

"I don't want to impose," Lita protested.

"You're not imposing I'm offering," Spencer said his tone firm. "I don't really want to talk about this subject without the others anyway as we share absolutely everything. My mates know all about my crappy childhood and they've been very supportive from the beginning. At my home we'll have privacy and not risk anyone overhearing."

"Well, okay," Lita decided. "I can never turn down a homecooked meal as I haven't had one of those in I don't know how long."

"I hadn't had one in more than 20 years until I met Dave and the others," Spencer chuckled. "Both Dave and JJ can cook, while Aaron and I cannot. I'm good on the basics like making grilled cheese, but that's about it for my cooking skills."

Lita found that admission charming, because she knew that Spencer was speaking unselfconsciously the absolute truth. A lot of men didn't like it admitting that they couldn't do something, even something like cooking but it appeared that Spencer was different in that regard. If he wasn't already happily settled with three other people she might have tried to get him for herself since she had gotten divorced several years ago and they were around the same age. However, it was clear to her that he was totally devoted to his family, so unfortunately, she was out of luck as she never went ofter anyone who was already happily settled.

"I'll just call, Dave and let him know that I'm bringing a guest," added Spencer.

"So any children?" Lita asked.

"All grown up," Spencer answered, as he escorted Lita out of the shop and made sure to set the alarm and lock the door behind him. "Our youngest Xander just went off to college a couple of years ago. It's kind of nice just for it to be the four of us, although I suspect that's about to change. However, just because these triplets are related to me doesn't mean I'll take them in without the others consent. After all, we've done our part and raised our children and we were looking forward to the quiet life. I could close the shop or turn it over to one of my children right now or never even started it in the first place five years ago and have enough money for the rest of my life, but none of us are the sort to be inactive so we all have our hobbies."

"And with the children out of the house you have more time to enjoy those hobbies," Lita said Spencer nodded.

"Yeah, we do," Spencer agreed. "The kids do visit as often as they can and all of us are always happy to see them. Why don't you follow me to my home. We live in a gated community as we like the privacy, as people mind their own business and aren't nosy like in some neighborhoods."

"Well, it's a good thing I didn't try and approach you at home, as I would have needed authorization to enter," Lita said. "I could've gotten it, but it would have taken time, especially since I didn't even know that you changed your last name when you got married or even that you were married. Really though, it should have occurred to me because most men your age do have families, even if they're divorced, so I feel like kind of an idiot that it just didn't occur to me."

"I'm sure my father talked about me and I'm sure he said many negative things, like how I would never get married, because I wasn't very outgoing or that I was too intelligent for my own good. If he did well you shouldn't be surprised that you didn't think of it because the only thing you knew about me came from a man who abandoned his family, even though he told you otherwise."

"He didn't really talk about you much, but yeah, he did tell me some things years ago, mostly when he was drunk, things that I can tell now are untrue at the very least and outright lies at the worst."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Spencer asked rhetorically, as he headed for his car and Lita watched to make sure she would recognize it.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

"Welcome to our home," Aaron greeted Lita, as she came the front door along with Spencer.

As promised Spencer had called ahead and told his family that he was bringing a guest for dinner.

"Thank you, I'm sorry to dropping in on you so suddenly," Lita said, as she shook the handsome man hand.

"I'm Aaron," Aaron introduced himself. "It's alright, we always like to have guests come over."

Ah! So this is a handsome man that Spencer mentioned he had sent home. I have to say that he doesn't look to be in his 60s either, Lia thought. I wonder if the rest of the family will be the same looking much younger than the actual years, just because they've been so happy together.

"You arrived just in time, as dinner should be ready within 10 minutes or so," Aaron added looking at Spencer who seemed to understand what wasn't being said and nodded.

"This way you can clean up right quick and then dinner will be on the table," Spencer said, as he led the way farther into the house.

Lita looked around and noticed that all the furniture while very nice was also made for comfort, so that told her that this family wasn't one for pretensions. They probably went with what they liked so long as it was comfortable and didn't buy something just to show off to the neighbors that they were wealthy. Besides, just living in this gated community of houses that were really more mansions, got that point across if you weren't as dumb as a bag of bricks.

Spencer had been correct that he had more than enough money to live on for the rest of his life if his family could afford to live in a house like this, because Lita knew very well that these kind of places went for several million dollars and that would have true even 25 years ago. Of course, it could have belonged to someone in the family and had been passed down, which was a very strong possibility, but even if so it would take a considerable amount of money to maintain such a place.

Lita washed her hands and Spencer met her as soon as she was done. "The kitchen is this way," Spencer said again leading the way. A moment later he pushed open a swinging door and gestured Lita inside.

Lita looked around the kitchen she stepped into and noticed right away that it was very roomy, and had all the latest appliances. All the pots and pans that were hanging above her head appeared sparkling clean and the knives looked like a professionals. Even the chopping block was sparkling with no stains ingrained into the marble. This was the kitchen of someone who really loved to cook just as Spencer had indicated. There was a nice roomy dark wooden kitchen table covered in a tablecloth that appeared big enough to hold at least 15 people without anybody bumping elbows. Why they needed such a big table Lita didn't know unless it had just come with the house and they hadn't bothered to get something smaller.

"Dinner is ready everyone," another man with a goatee and black hair cut short announced as he and a woman were putting several dishes on the large kitchen table.

This must be Dave and Jennifer or JJ, Lita surmised.

"You must be Lita Madison, that Spence called about and said was coming for dinner," JJ said shaking the lawyer's hand. "I'm Jennifer Rossi, but you can call me JJ."

"And I'm Dave," Dave greeted casually also shaking Lita's hand.

"As I told Aaron I'm sorry to just drop in on you like this and disrupt your lives," Lita said, as she took a little bit of everything.

"We know you had an obligation to locate Spencer if you could," Dave said waving away Lita's apology. "We know it must not of been easy to do so."

"It was easy enough until he changed his last name, even if it was very time consuming," Lita said. "After all, moving does leave a paper trail and everything is stored on computers nowadays. It took awhile, but a private investigator the firm hired managed to track him here to this city, but then I couldn't find any current records that weren't decades old. I now know why, but it didn't occur to me that he might've changed his last name, since most men don't."

"So how did you finally do it?" JJ asked curiously.

Lita told about how she had got the address for the store.

"So you tracked down Dr. Norman," Spencer said impressed. "I did give him the address of my shop just in case he needed me. I also gave him my cell phone and and shop numbers though, not the house one and was one way you could've tracked me and also found out about the name change."

"I tried your cell phone, but apparently the number was disconnected and Dr. Norman never gave me the shop one, but it probably just didn't occur to him to do so," Lita said.

"Yeah, I forgot I had to get a new number, because somebody hacked into my phone remotely. Stole my credit card information so I canceled those and had to get new ones," Spencer said. "Unfortunately, that's way too easy to do nowadays for people who are smart when it comes to technology."

"Luckily, we also have separate accounts, with different credit cards, which more than paid for expenditures until we got new ones," Dave smiled.

"It was a pain in the ass to have to do so," JJ added.

"I hate it when that happens," Lita said. "I hate being hacked or having my phone cloned. I've had to replace at least a couple of them and get different numbers, although not in a long time."

"Well, at least I noticed not too long after it happened and guessed what was happening," Spencer explained. "I took the phone to a friend of ours who's much better with technology than I could ever be and she told me I had indeed been hacked. I canceled my number and the credit cards immediately and since it had only been a day or so, well, the hacker didn't get much. For one thing we have a password that needs to be given to get into our accounts that is never written down. It stays in our heads for safety and once I learn something I never forget it," Spencer said. "It's also long and complicated with several symbols as well as numbers and letters. I won't say that our account couldn't be hacked, but it would be extremely difficult and likely take them a year or more, and to most hackers it wouldn't be worth the time and effort."

"Eidetic memory," Dave explained briefly. "Which has come in handy a few times over the years."

"I just bet it has," Lita said, looking envious. "I can see how that could be very useful and I definitely could have used something like that when I was in law school, as just learning all those legal terms was difficult."

"You must have hired a competent private investigator if they were able to dig up Spencer connection to Dr. Norman," Aaron said changing the subject. "I won't say it was exactly a hidden connection just so old that most people likely wouldn't have found it."

"Yeah, the private investigator I hired really had to dig," Lita admitted. "He had almost given up when he came up with the name of Dr. Norman. A little more investigating and he was able to trace that back to how you used to be Spencer's mother's doctor and how he worked at Bennington. We got Dr Norman's address and he was the one that gave us the store address and your cell phone number, but not the shop one."

"So how is Dr. Norman?" Spencer asked. "He was doing well at one point, though I haven't heard from him in years. I won't say we were close or anything, but he was looking after my mother, so we were kind of casual friends. We always spoke at length whenever I went up to visit mom. I took these three up to visit once we got together, so that she would know I was happy, which was all she ever wanted for me. The fact, that I gave her three grandchildren had her over the moon and I made sure we all visited frequently," Spencer added smiling.

"She also treated the other children that we had before we met Spencer as her own as well," said Aaron smiling.

"She sounds like a very loving woman. As to your question Spencer, I'm afraid he's not doing too well," Lita said shaking her head. "His mind is going, which is likely why he forgot to give me the shop number as well or maybe he lost it."

"Well, that happens a lot when you get old," JJ said. She looked a little sad she had really liked Dr. Norman the few times she had met him.

"Yeah, it does, it's still sad though," Spencer said.

The rest of the talk around the dinner table was casual until finally plates were clean.

"That's the best meal I've had in a long time," Lita said. "I probably ate more than I should have."

"Well, if you don't get many homecooked meals you certainly tend to overeat," Spencer said smiling. "I know I did when I first joined these three as I used to eat out a lot, mostly fast food or I'd fix something simple at home. I won't say that food in a restaurant isn't good, but a homecooked meal is so much better and cheaper to."

"I have to agree with that," Lita said smiling feeling much fuller than she normally did, but then she'd had second helping, something that she never did, but it had just been so good, so she hadn't been able to resist.

"Why don't you go into the living room and I'll be there as soon as I clean up," Aaron offered.

"I'll help," Spencer said immediately. "It's only fair since Dave and JJ prepared the meal."

There was no argument Lita noticed so she assumed that this was a regular event.

It was actually nice to see this kind of harmony in a marriage when nobody argued about their duties and where help was actually offered, so that the ones that had cooked the meal could relax while the ones who hadn't cleaned up the mess.

"The living room is this way," Dave told Lita, as he led the way out of the kitchen and to the left.

"Aaron and Spence will only be a few minutes probably not more than 10 or so. If we still had children in the house, cleaning up the kitchen would be assigned to some of them, as it teaches responsibility," JJ told Lita walking beside her.

Lita nodded at this, because that was true.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

"Why don't you take a seat," Dave offered once they reached the living room.

Lita did so sitting in one of the single chairs that was very comfortable. "So how did you meet? You don't have to tell me or anything I'm just curious."

"We met in the park," Dave said finally. "He was taking photographs and all of us were there for a picnic along with our five kids. His career was just beginning to take off when we met. When he turned to face us something just sort of clicked for all of us. We had been considering taking on another partner anyway and hadn't decided whether or not it was going to be male or female. It might have been nice to have another female in the group, somebody who could have children, but as I said all of us just kind clicked with Spencer. Whoever we had decided on, male or female had to fit in with all of us and all of us had to get along with them, not to mention develop feelings for them and them for us."

"We couldn't have someone who was just going to cause discord with our smooth dynamics," JJ added. "Sure, there was bound to be a few problems, some friction, as we worked to have someone new as part of our group, but that happens constantly when you're just getting to know someone anyway. I'm talking about someone that deliberately liked to cause problems, complained all the time and so forth. There's no way we would have someone like that is part of our group as he or she would've driven a wedge between the rest of us."

"Or at least tried," Dave corrected. "JJ is correct it had to be somebody that fit in with the group."

What JJ and Dave were telling the lawyer was mostly the truth, except they couldn't tell Lita exactly why they had chosen Spencer, so they made it sound as if they had just met and he had just clicked with all three of them. That this also happened to be the truth, gave their story the punch it needed for Lita to believe it. The only difference in this version of the story and the real version was that Lita didn't know the truth of why Spencer had clicked with the group so well from the beginning.

Dave and JJ took turns telling the story and Lita listened intently.

What Lita got from the story was that Spencer had used to avoid people as much as possible, mostly because he was afraid of being bullied. Dave and JJ didn't say so, but Lita suspected that he had been bullied when he was a child probably by the other children he went to school with and that his father hadn't helped the situation. She knew very well that William Reid hadn't exactly been a compassionate man and while he was a very good attorney he was a lousy human being.

Also from what she was hearing Spencer had changed beyond all recognition once he got involved with Aaron, JJ and Dave. Lita was well aware that when you had people who loved you and supported you no questions asked could change a person over time, because they would soak all the love they felt like a sponge. When you had people who supported you, that would change anyone, even someone as introverted as Spencer had been at first.

Lita couldn't help mentally shaking her head wondering how William could have done something so cruel to his own son, as she now had no doubt that there had been at least some neglect involved as she was hardly an innocent, she couldn't possibly be at her age. She wouldn't be surprised if Will had made little nasty subtle comments within his son's hearing, because she knew very well what kind of man he was.

Really, if her suspicions were correct Spencer had turned out amazingly well considering, as he hadn't even had the support of his mother who was very sick.

Spencer and Aaron entered the living room just then and took seats.

"I'm assuming you came not only about my father's money, but about adopting my three half siblings," Spencer began. "I already told these three everything so they are all caught up."

"You're their only family," Lita said. "If you don't they'll end up with a foster family, likely several foster families, as not many would be willing to take three children siblings or not."

"You're sure that Spence is the triplets only family?" JJ asked.

"Yes, because both parents were only children and both are dead, as are the grandparents. Even if Spencer's mother was alive she wouldn't be capable of looking after them due to her schizophrenia, and she would only be related through marriage, not blood. The firm I work for knew that Will had an older son, but it took forever to locate you, as you know. We had began to fear that you were dead to. I think the reason that we tried so hard to find you is that none of us wanted those children to end up in several foster homes as there are no guarantees that they would be allowed to visit each other or even know where their siblings were located. Yes, I know child services tries their best to keep siblings together but that's not always possible."

"That's true," Spencer said looking at his three mates who were looking back at him. "Child services in any city are always overworked and underpaid for the job they do. They do their best with the funds they have, but it's not always enough. There's a slim possibility that child services will find a foster family that's willing to take all three of them in, but even if they do there's no guarantees that it will be a good family where they'd be comfortable, loved and supported. So many who become foster parents aren't fit for the role and slip past all the checks and balances in place to prevent it."

"A background check can only tell you so much," Dave agreed. "So many things won't show up on one, especially if they've never been caught breaking the law. I vote to take them in, as it's the right thing to do. Yes, I know that our youngest just went off to college not to long ago and we were enjoying the peace and quiet that not having any children in the house brings, but if we don't take them in, give them a good home who knows what will happen to them. Yes, they could turn out just fine, as they might get lucky when it comes to foster parents but the odds are against it."

"We all know how the system works," JJ said. "The government does it's best for the most part, but there's only so much funding and so many children who end up orphans for whatever reason, a lot of whom have no family to take them in. I know we were talking about traveling some now that we didn't have any children to worry about, but that could be put on hold if necessary."

"Or we could bring them along," Aaron said. "They're what 6, 7?"

"Six actually," Lita said, as she listened to the discussion. So far she was very impressed with all four of them as they were intelligent and kind. They all seemed to agree that taking the children in was the right thing to do, even though they had just seen their youngest go off to college not too long ago."

"Well, that's certainly old enough to do some traveling with them," Dave mused. "In the summer anyway, since they are old enough for kindergarten."

"They should've started already actually this last school year as there'll soon be seven, but with the death of both the father and mother, well, it's been delayed. I know it's the law and everything, but the foster families they are staying with didn't want to put them in kindergarten if they were going to move to another city. If I hadn't been able to locate you they would have been going to the same school at least and would have been in the same kindergarten class as all the foster parents are in the same general area. Within a few miles of each other actually."

"Well, that's something anyway," Spencer said.

"And rather unusual," JJ added.

"I know child services couldn't get them with the same foster family, but they tried to get them in the same school zone at least, so that they could interact while at school and not lose contact completely," Lita said

"That was really nice of child services," Aaron muttered appreciatively.

"It's nice to know that someone really does care as childcare workers tend to burn out rather fast," Dave said.

"Yeah, most of them don't last more than 10 years," Lita agreed.

"So we're all agreed then," Spencer asked his mate.

"I would say so," Dave said. "You already knew that we'd be taking their children in, as they are your kin after all, even if you felt you had to get all our agreements first, but you really already knew what we were going to say and that there was no way we would not take your sisters in. Besides, I think all of us have missed having any children in the house as nice as the peace and quiet has been."

"I know I have," JJ said and Aaron and Spencer nodded in agreement.

"Alright then, Spencer at least will need to come to Las Vegas to pick them up," Lita said. "Spencer will need to take a blood test to prove that he is related to them."

"I can do that," Spencer agreed easily.

"I say we all go to Las Vegas, as we aren't working anyway," JJ said. "We can make it kind of a vacation, as the only times we were in Las Vegas was to visit Spencer's mother before she died and we never stayed more than a couple of days."

Lita said nothing but she suspected the reason that these four had never stayed in Las Vegas more than a day or two was because there was less chance of running into Spencer's father, even if the chances of that were slim, as Las Vegas was a very large city. Still, it could have happened, even if the odds were against it. She had no doubt that Dave and Aaron could've punched his lights out even now as they looked to be in excellent shape and probably exercised heavily. If they had meals every night like she'd had at dinner they would have to or all four of them would be extremely overweight, instead of looking like they did.

"That's a good idea," Spencer said smiling. "I've never had a chance to show you my old hometown."

"That's fine with me," Aaron said and Dave agreed.

"We could even do some gambling," Dave said smiling.

"I vote we stay away from the strip and all the casinos," JJ said looking disapproving.

"Hey, I've always been pretty good at poker, and I bet you I can win some anyway," Dave protested laughingly.

"We might as well let him have his fun so long the doesn't go overboard," Aaron told JJ. "We have been to Atlantic City sometimes to gamble and even to Gamma.

Gamma was a resort in space that had absolutely everything, the best shops, gambling and even food. The four of them had gone there for vacation right after Xander had left for college.

"At least I'm not addicted to gambling like some people are," Dave said. "Gambling occasionally isn't going to do me any harm."

"I suppose," JJ said giving Dave a disapproving look.

"I'll avoid the slot machines, as I know very well they're rigged, but there's nothing wrong with poker or blackjack."

JJ just shook her head for she had never understood why all three men in her life liked gambling.

Oh, none of them did it often at least not for money, but they did play it at home quite a bit usually for a favor to be determined later. Of course, that favor usually ended up being a date night somewhere expensive with just the two whose bet it had been. JJ supposed that it was a way to keep their relationship from stagnating and it was relatively harmless.

"So when can I tell child services to expect you?" Lita asked.

"In a couple of days," Spencer said. "It'll take us that long to make arrangements and pack. I'll call you when we have our flight information."

All of them worked out the details before Lita took her to leave. "I'll see you up in Vegas in a couple of days."

Spencer escorted her out to her car and watched her drive away before heading back inside.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~


	15. Chapter 15

Epilogue

Part 2

"Well, that was rather…" JJ began once the alarm had been set and all the doors and windows locked for the night

"Astonishing?" Dave asked with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes.

"Surprising?" Aaron added.

"Amazing?" Spencer chimed in.

"All of the above," JJ laughed.

"I feel guilty for the way I went off on when she mentioned my father," Spencer said and he did indeed very guilty. "She didn't really deserve that, but she really caught me by surprise."

"You apologized and she accepted and that should be the end of it," Dave said as he put it on my around Spencer's shoulder. "She understood your reasons and I think she realizes now that your father lied to her and told tales to make himself look better. We always suspected that your father had done so, made your mother out to be the bad guy, we just never had any proof of it until Lita showed up."

"Still, I feel guilty for going off on her like that," Spencer admitted. "I've even gone off on you guys when you bring the subject up and I love you more than anything."

"Which is why we never bring the subject up anymore not because you fuss at us, but because it hurts you think about your childhood. We know that while you put those memories in a box so you didn't have to think about them you never did see a professional, so you could have help in really dealing with them," Aaron said.

"I didn't think it was necessary really, as I never expected to encounter anyone with any kind of connection to my father and I've been so happy that it's not like I dwell on my unhappy childhood," Spencer said.

"Well, at least you didn't react with violence," JJ smiled a little kissing Spencer's cheek.

"No, Spencer isn't really the type for violence, not unless forced anyway," Dave said. "I suggest we get some sleep as we have a lot of arrangements to make tomorrow."

All four of them begin to get undressed, then did their ablutions before snuggling into bed together.

"That you feel guilty at all and immediately apologized for the way you spoke to Lita just shows what a good person you are," Dave told Spencer. "I mean, look at it this way, you certainly didn't expect her to show up out of the blue and bring up painful memories. If you hadn't had to get a new phone number, then you would have been forewarned at the very least and would have mastered your emotions long before she showed up. Hearing about your father still would've cut you to the bone, but you would've had us for support from the beginning and you likely would have handled it better."

"I think you handled it pretty well myself," JJ said. "Certainly better than you could have."

"Thank you for the support," Spencer said gratefully.

"That's what we're here for," Aaron said. "Most people unless you're a small innocent child come with some sort of emotional baggage, no matter what anybody else tells you, which could be the loss of a parent or a grandparent, their child or even just a good friend. You just come with more painful baggage than most that's all. Of course, we all know that my childhood wasn't idyllic either."

"That's the understatement of the millennium," Dave snorted his contempt obvious.

"So do you even know the sexes of these children?" JJ asked.

"No, I don't, as I forgot to ask," Spencer admitted.

"That's not like you at all," JJ teased him gently.

"No, it's really not, but he's also just been through a major emotional upheaval, as one of his personal demons from his past has just reared its ugly head," Dave said, cutting JJ off for this was not the time to tease, not even in a friendly manner.

"Well, I guess we'll find out in a couple of days," Aaron said.

"Yeah, we will," JJ said softly, as she kissed Spencer's cheek before closing her eyes after ordering the lights off.

All four settled comfortably into the humongous bed that had been custom-made and soon drifted off to sleep contentedly.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

Las Vegas Nevada

Child friendly restaurant

"Mr. Rossi, I'd like to introduce you to Silvie, Kalina and Mista," the childcare worker whose name was Cadence announced. "Children this is your older brother Spencer Rossi."

"It's nice to meet you," Spencer said sincerely, smiling a little. He noticed how to nervous all three children were, but since they were only six years old that was understandable, as he was a stranger after all, even if he was technically they're half brother. Besides, he might be their half brother, but he was also quite a bit older than they were and normally the kind of the age gap between him and his half siblings wouldn't exist as most people were more responsible then his father had been, but it did happen sometimes he knew. Usually though, the siblings never found out about each other. Also they had just lost both parents not to long ago, even if their father had been a rather crappy one.

He'd done a considerable amount to put his past behind him and finding out that he had 3 half siblings that were more than 50 years younger than he was, was a shock. He had never imagined that his father would be so irresponsible or that he would actually acknowledge any children he created with women he had sex with, not after he had abandoned his family anyway. Of course, his father might have acknowledged them as his, but he hadn't left any provisions for them from his estate and if it wasn't for him they had ended up in separate foster homes at the very least.

He was glad that Lita had managed to track him down, because despite what he had told her he had already known that there was no way that his mate would have been turning these children away. He knew his three mates in every way that it was possible to know someone, mentally, physically, emotionally and sexually. He knew how they thought and how they always did the right thing in the end. Honesty and fairness were the cornerstones of their marriage, which was something he still appreciated every day, even if he really didn't think about it much anymore.

He'd had a blood test done before he had met the three little girls sitting across from them and he was indeed related to them, but now that he was actually seeing them face-to-face there could be no doubt. All three little girls looked too much like his father for him not to be at least closely related, like being the kids of a brother or sister. They had his and his father's brown hair and golden brown eyes and two of them had the shape of his jaw and cheekbones while the other one did not, so the third girl must more closely resemble their mother. Also one of them had the same shape of his and that meant that he had his father's eyes and jawline, while the other two did not, as the jawline was softer and the shape of the eyes different. Still there was enough of a resemblance that he had no doubt that these three 6 year old girls were indeed his half-sister and the blood test just confirmed what he saw before him.

"Are you really our older brother?" asked one of the girls.

"I really am," Spencer said very gently, smiling slightly.

"Then how come we've never met you?" asked another of the girls.

"Let's just say that my father and I didn't get along," Spencer said not giving details, knowing that they were too young for those yet, though when they were older he would be completely honest with them if they ever asked about his relationship with their father. "I didn't even know that he had gotten involved with someone much less heard about your births."

The childcare worker watched as the older man interacted with the children smoothly and was very pleased. She had all the details on this Spencer Reid or Rossi she reminded herself and knew that he was supposedly in his 60s, though he certainly didn't look it. No, he barely looked 40, but she supposed that he could've had some sculpting work done and likely a facelift, but if he had she couldn't tell, so it was very, very fine work if he'd had any done.

All three girls seemed to consider this.

"I haven't been in contact with my father or even seen him in more than 40 years," Spencer added. "It's been closer to 50 actually."

"That's a very long time," commented the third girl who hadn't spoken until now.

"Yes, it is, isn't it?" Spencer agreed easily. He was not put off by the girl's bluntness as most children didn't have filters and most of them spoke what they were thinking, unless they were slapped around either with words or physically often enough so that they learned to keep their thoughts to themselves. Not saying what you were thinking was a skill that usually came with age and experience. "Now, how would you feel about coming to live with me and my family? You'd be provided for until you are grown up and you'd be sent to college if you wanted to go once you hit the age to do so."

"You have a family?" one of the little girls asked.

"Right now, it's just me and my husbands and wife, as all our children are grown, but they do come by to visit so you will meet them at some point. We own a nice big house that I'm sure you'll love to explore and you can either share a room or have your own whatever you prefer."

"Why don't you all spend some time together so you can get to know each other before any decisions are made," Cadence suggested.

"That sounds just fine," Spencer agreed easily. "I'm sure that all of us can find something fun to do and you can meet Dave, Aaron and JJ. "They're already looking forward to meeting you and I'm sure you'll fall in love with them. We were already planning on spending at least a week or so in this area, though that can easily be extended if necessary."

"We'd like that," said Silvie.

"You've been very kind to us," Mista added

"Why wouldn't I be?" Spencer asked curiously.

"Daddy wasn't always very kind," Kalina admitted.

"He'd often yell at us for something we hadn't even done," Mista added.

"Even when he was in a good mood he didn't spend much time with us," Kalina added.

"Why doesn't that surprise me," Spencer muttered softly and Cadence shot him a look and he gave her a bland stare back betraying nothing of his feelings. He'd always been rather good at the poker face and in hiding his true emotions a skill he'd been forced to learn as a child. "Well, you won't have to worry about that from me or my family. Well, you'll see for yourself soon enough."

"So when can we meet your family?" Silvie asked eagerly.

"As soon as you like," Spencer smiled genuinely. "They didn't come with me today, because none of us wanted to overwhelm you since meeting a lot of strangers at once can be scary and you just lost your mother not too long ago. It's only been nine months or so since you lost both your parents and while your grief isn't exactly fresh, it takes a long time to get over losing one parent much less both."

No matter how crappy one of those parents happens to be, Spencer added in his thoughts, but didn't allow to show his face.

Young children tended to be very trusting depending on the child and it usually took a lot to lose their trust. Every child was different though, because for him he had lost his trust in his father at a very young age long before his father had abandoned his family.

These girls may have still loved and trusted their father, but that trust had likely started to tarnish by the time he had died if all three comments were any indication. Well, he, Dave Aaron and JJ would make sure that these three girls would live happily from now on. The four of them had raised 10 children after all, although he admitted that five of those had already been born by the time he met them.

Still, to the two youngest at least who had been 2 and 4 respectively when he had met them he was one of their fathers and had always been there. Really to a certain extent the same had been true for Andrea who had been six years old when he had met her, as she likely only had vague memories of him not being there, which had likely faded the older she got, because younger childhood memories would often be fleeting depending on age.

Those had been good years, Spencer thought with a fond mental smile. Much better years then the previous 35. It had seemed that all five children had grown up in the blink of an eye. Of course, to be fair the oldest one had been ten before he had come into the picture and then the others were two years apart approximately. The others that had been born after he joined the group had also grown up and left home, but at least they've been around for a few years longer. He had certainly missed his oldest daughter when she'd gone off to college, the other children that had been born to of course, but when his oldest daughter the one that had his DNA had reached college age he had wanted to beg her to stay at home forever.

He had known how ridiculous and illogical what he was feeling was, but the urge to do so had been strong. His three mates of course had sussed out how he had been feeling and revealed that they had been the same way when their first child was ready for college. Surprisingly, that had made him feel much better to know that at least some parents felt like he did about letting their kids get out into the big bad world. This had happened to Aaron and Dave as well with whatever child happened to share their DNA whenever they reached college age, particularly with their daughters. You just wanted to wrap your children, particularly your little girls, in cotton wool and protect them from anything that could possibly hurt them, even if that wasn't really possible.

"We want to meet them," said Mista and the other two nodded.

"Okay, I can arrange something. For you to meet them in an environment where you'll be comfortable, as that's what matters here," Spencer said.

Well, this was going extremely well, Candace thought pleased. She knew it helped that Mr. Rossi had raised his own kids, so understood how to deal with them, as you didn't lose the skill once learned, even if it could get rusty.

The children chatted at Spencer who listened patiently and answered their questions as best he could while Cadence simply observed. Finally lunch ended over two hours later and Cadence thought that Spencer would be a good person to raise the three girls as he was very good with them. Now if only meeting Spencer's spouses went as well then she would know that Silvie, Kalina and Mista would have a good home.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

"How did it go?" JJ asked as soon as Spencer walked into the hotel soon that Dave had rented online from Philadelphia.

"I thought it went very well actually," Spencer answered, as he kissed JJ's cheek, then also Dave's and Aaron's. "They were initially very nervous, but then what child wouldn't be? After all, I might be their brother technically, but I'm also around 50 years older and they've never met me before, not until today. After the first half an hour or so though they relaxed considerably. Candace, the childcare worker seemed pleased anyway."

"Well, it sounds like it went good then," Dave commented, as he listened to Spencer's report.

"I'm not surprised," Aaron said as he lazed around on the bed, with his back and head against several pillows. "It wasn't all that long ago that Xander left for college so all Spencer needed to do was polish up his parenting skills a little, but really, they're hardly rusty."

"Yes, that's true, his parenting skills haven't really had a chance to get rusty," JJ said.

"Not that I needed those skills, even before Xander left home or at least not much once he was 13 or 14. At that age mostly the children can take care of their own problems, though the four of us were always available for advice if necessary or if they got into a situation they couldn't handle."

"Yeah, that's true most children are pretty self-sufficient by that age, even if they still need us to drive them places, to feed and provide for them," Aaron said.

"So when do we get to meet them?" JJ asked sounding eager.

"Tomorrow," Spencer smiled at her eagerness. "The girls are eager to meet you to, as I told them all about you. Their a little nervous of course, but I promised them that they would love you."

"Well, they are only six so I'm not surprised that they are nervous," Dave said. "It's been less than a year since they lost both their parents, which means they were only five at the time it happened and it doesn't help at all that they were the ones to discover their mother's body. I'm sure they have had nightmares at least and how their foster parents dealt with them I don't know, but it might be something you want to ask Candace next time you see her. The foster parents might not have done anything about the nightmares, as they could have simply ignored them and if they did so they were probably hoping they would go away."

"They also could have fussed at the child in question," JJ added. "Maybe yelled and screamed because one or more of the girls woke them up. That seems to be an all too common reaction a lot of times to a child who's experienced some serious emotional trauma and not just from foster parents but also a kids real parents. A lot of adults simply don't know how to deal with a child who's been through serious trauma."

"Some take a kid to see a psychologist if the nightmares don't lessen after a few weeks, which is the right thing to do," Dave said.

"Too many parents don't do that though. Sometimes it doesn't even occur to them," Aaron said. "It's a good thing I for one was never prone to nightmares, because my parents never would have agreed let me see a psychologist, considering it would have been my father's fault if I'd had any. I really am lucky that I never did."

"I've never had any either, but then I've never been to anything traumatic enough to get them," Spencer added. "My childhood wasn't stellar we all know that, but it wasn't violent or anything, well, except for the bullying at school."

"Well, if they are having nightmares we'll deal with it," Dave said. "It's possible that they haven't really comprehended what happened, because they were two young at the time or they could still be experiencing nightmares even nine months after it happened."

"Or the nightmares could appear once they feel safe," Spencer said. "That happens all the time as sometimes when a child doesn't feel safe and nightmares don't appear until they do, because they don't want to draw anymore attention to themselves then necessary and their subconsciouses knows it."

"It's also possible they don't have them every night, maybe just every few days or they could even have blocked out what happened like the brain does a lot of times when the person can't handle the trauma," JJ said. "It happens most often when the victim is a child, but sometimes it happens to adults to."

"Well, we'll see what the situation is once we get them back to Philadelphia," Aaron said. "I'm sure that Joan would love to come out of semiretirement and help us look after them."

Joan their former nanny had indeed been turned immortal as Spencer had convinced her to do so. He had pointed out how all the children and adults in the house loved her and how hard it would be to find someone else that was trusted as much as she was.

He had told her that all of them including the children she had helped raise would mourn her death not just for a few decades but forever and finished it off by pointing out that these weren't the last children that all of them were going to have that they were just taking a lengthy break. She could travel when there were no children to look after he had told her or she could settle somewhere for a few years until they were ready to have more.

Spencer had also told her that she was well loved and she was the only one who wasn't another immortal that knew their secret and how hard it would it be to get someone else that they trusted as much as they did her.

Joan had caved at that because she knew that she was trusted and it wouldn't be easy to find someone that could be trusted just as much, someone who would keep the confidence about immortals. She had found out by accident sure, but she had accepted that immortals existed a lot easier than most people would and Joan was well aware of that fact. In fact, she was paid very well for her discretion. By the time she had left them after Xander finally went off to college she had more than enough to travel as much as she wanted and stay in the finest hotels.

"She sure didn't get much of a retirement, as it's only been a couple of years since Xander left home," Dave snorted.

"That's true, but it's not like we expected this to come up," JJ said. "Spencer didn't know he had half siblings, as they kind of just dropped into our laps. I mean what responsible adult whose in their eighties for god sake's gets a woman who's much younger pregnant? Of course, I realize that the woman was equally irresponsible, though it's possible that she didn't realize she could get pregnant at 51."

"What you're not saying is she should have realized she could and taken precautions, as it's quite common nowadays," Aaron said following what JJ was thinking easily.

"That's it exactly," JJ agreed. "I mean no woman is so naïve as to believe that they can't possibly get pregnant, not unless they are incredibly young and sheltered without much experience in the world."

"Did you ever think she might've allowed herself to get pregnant on purpose?" Spencer asked. "Perhaps, to convince the bastard to stay with her?"

"So you think maybe the girls mother getting pregnant wasn't an accident?" Dave asked and Spencer nodded.

"You know it's very possible as a lot of men will stay with the mother of their children, even if it eventually ends in divorce, but at least they would have tried. She wouldn't have known my father's history, of how he abandoned his first family I'm sure," Dave said.

"That's possible," JJ said looking a little sick, as she liked to see the best in people, even though she was hardly naïve and knew that people could be fucked up.

"Also I wouldn't be surprised at all if my father had numerous woman ever since he abandoned mom and me as I can't see him staying with one specific woman more than a year or two at most, well except apparently the girls mother. He did cheat on mom after all, so once he was free of her there would be nothing to stop him from continuing the pattern.

"Of course, he would've had to be very very discreet about it, because of the fact that he was an attorney and his clients needed to trust him. Going through women like someone would pieces of chocolate wouldn't have upset his career as much in today's society as it would've centuries ago, because standards have changed a lot from what they were. Still a lawyer needs a good reputation if he wants clients as a lot of people take offense at someone because they discover that they are a user.

"While lawyers don't necessarily have to be married and have a family to present the proper image today, if it was found out by the media that he was using women for pleasure and went through them like people do underwear, well, they'd be all over him like a rash. All I'm trying to say is that it's possible that he would lose clients and might have been enough to be fired if the media got ahold of his habits as their always looking for dirt on someone to feed the beast. People just love a good scandal and that hasn't changed from centuries ago, as it's simply part of human nature," Spencer lectured.

"It's easier to wreck a good reputation then it is to build one," Aaron added. "People just love to discover dirt about their heroes or about prominent members of society who are supposedly upstanding citizens."

"Exactly and it would take quite a bit of time for the media frenzy that would occur to die down. My father's firm wouldn't have had a choice, but to fire him and that it didn't happen tells me that he was probably discreet until this situation came up. He probably figured that he could do whatever the hell he wanted once he retired," Spencer said. "From what Lita told us he retired about 20 years ago, but still used them for legal services. His firm wouldn't have been able to say anything to him once he was no longer working for them and that's even if they found out what he was doing and thought it was distasteful at the very least. Really, there wouldn't have been anything they could do except drop him as a client, something he might have caused an almighty stink about if they had done so. It would have been a hard decision to make," Spencer said.

"Lawyer firms have a reputation to protect, on the other hand, a lot of them do take sleazy clientele," Dave said. "Known criminals for instance. Still, I suppose it doesn't matter since your father's dead, though we never would have known if not for the fact that Lita hired someone to track you down because of the children, which wouldn't have been very easy."

"We already know it wasn't, especially after I changed my name to yours Dave after we tied the knot a quarter of a century ago," Spencer said. "Best decision I ever made."

"One of the happiest days of all our lives," JJ said smiling.

"Definitely," Aaron said with a smile of his own.

He certainly smiled a lot more than he ever had as a kid, but that was only because he was so happy and he knew the other three were as well.

Dave simply smiled, but said nothing though it was clear he was also very happy.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

The three little girls chatted at Dave, Aaron and JJ, as they had taken to their brother's spouses immediately, as soon as they had entered the restaurant, a different one from the one Spencer had lunch with them the other day, but just as child friendly.

Spencer watched as his three mates listened indulgently to the triplets chatter and even responded occasionally to show that they were listening. He had known that his three half-sisters would get along splendidly with Dave, Aaron and JJ, but he had figured that it would take a little time and more effect on his spouses part. He had forgotten however, that while the three girls had been through a tragedy they were also children and kids tended to trust more easily then adults.

Also they almost certainly hadn't had his life experiences of being severely bullied that had scarred him so much as that sort of thing would affect any child. It helped that the three of them hadn't started school yet and therefore, hadn't been as severely bullied as he had been, so they didn't have that experience to sour them to people for the most part. He had interacted with others when he'd had to, but he hadn't been a big people person, back before he had met his three mates. It was apparent that once the girls had decided he was trustworthy then they were willing to accept his mates as well, which warmed his heart.

"So what will it be like living with you?" Silvie asked.

"I'm sure you'll love it," JJ told the adorable little girl kindly. "We have a nice grand, old house that is more than big enough for all four of us and the three of you. As Spencer told you the other day you can either share a room or have one of your own as we have rooms to spare."

"We also have a very nice school that's private instead of public in our neighborhood," Aaron added. "And it has kindergarten classes as well as all the way up to grade 12. We'll enroll you for next year, since you'll need a few months at least to get settled in."

"I'm sure that you'll love the school," Dave told the three little girls who looked uncertain. "One reason that we like it so much is it is an anti-bullying policy, so you'll fit right in, I'm sure."

"We'll help you with anything you need whether that's with your homework or if you having a problem at school all you have to do is tell us," JJ added. "I'm sure you'll make a lot of friends as any child needs someone to hangout with."

"It's nerve-wrecking moving somewhere new for the first time, so believe me, I understand," Spencer told his sisters gently. "All you have to do is come to us with any problems and we'll see what we can do, though obviously I can't promise anything."

Candace, the childcare worker watched as Spencer three mates interacted with the children and soothed their fears. What child wouldn't be nervous about moving so far away and going to a school that had a lot of other children both their age and also older. After all, it would be a new experience for them to move so far away from everything they had ever known, though children tended to accept change much easier than a lot of adults did. They would be fine, Candace knew once they got used to living in a totally new city.

"So when are we going?" Kalina asked.

"Whenever child services has determined we can," Dave answered honestly.

"I'm sure you'll ready to go sometime in the next few days," Candace said. "All you need to do is complete the paperwork and there will be another childcare employee to check up on you for the next few months anyway to make sure you're all getting along."

"We know," Spencer answered calmly. "You just can't release these three adorable girls into our custody without making sure we're treating them okay."

"We'll make sure that whoever is going to check up on the girls is allowed entry once we get home as we live in a gated community with very good security," Aaron told Candace. "Anyone not on the guards list at whatever gate you drive up to isn't allowed entry."

"You have Spencer's number so why don't you give it to whoever is going to be doing the checking, so that they can call us and give us their name, so we can have them added to those allowed entry."

"Sounds fine," Candace smiled.

"Just so you know we better not get someone arrogant who disapproves of us," JJ said gesturing at the three men in her life.

"Or of group marriages in general," Spencer immediately agreed. "While our kind of marriage is mostly accepted there are still people out there who don't like it. Normally, whether someone likes group marriages or not wouldn't bother any of us, but since this person will supposedly have control as to whether or not these three stay with us, well, we don't want someone that's not already against us from the very beginning."

"Someone who is unhappy that these three are going to be living with us and keeps causing problems," Dave agreed.

"I hadn't thought of that, but you're right there are some people like that, including in childcare services," Candace agreed.

"These three have been through enough and they don't need some person causing problems just for the h...heck of causing problems," Aaron said.

It was clear to everyone that he had been going to say hell, but had changed it at the last second so that the three children didn't possibly pick up his bad language.

"Group marriages have been around for hundreds of years now and to most people they are just part of their lives, but on the outside. In other words, it's not something they generally think about unless they know of a group marriage like ours or are part of one themselves," Spencer said.

"But that doesn't mean some people aren't against them for whatever reason and one of those people might be part of childcare services in Philadelphia," Dave added, definitely on the same page as his spouses.

"I'll talk to the person in charge and make sure that you get someone who doesn't have any prejudices," Candace promised understanding where they were coming from.

"Or even a if they do that they do their job and keep them to themselves," JJ suggested. "We can't control what people believe or the prejudices they have, but some problems can be prevented with a little forethought. What we don't need is to put these 3 under anymore stress than they've already been, when their lives changed so suddenly with the death of their father then their mother soon afterwards."

"We know very well that if we are rejected as guardians or adoptive parents if we decide to go that route, that they'll be parceled out to different people instead of being kept together," said Spencer. "Them being kept together is important to us as they are siblings, and not only that triplets and don't need to be separated from each other."

"I don't think that will happen, because after all, you are their half brother, their only living relative," Candace said. The three girls not having any living relatives other then Spencer wasn't precisely true, as they did have an aunt, but the aunt hadn't wanted them. Really she hadn't been lying about Spencer being their only blood relation, though she supposed it could be considered stretching the truth. "Relatives always trump foster parents unless it can be proven that they're being mistreated, something I don't see happening here. Still, I understand your concerns and I'll talk to the person in charge of the childcare services in Philadelphia, make sure they send out someone that's willing to cooperate and not cause problems. The fact that you've already raised your own kids only helps your case, because it's not like you don't have any experience."

"That's the truth," JJ giggled and the three men in her life knew exactly what JJ was referring to, though Candace looked confused.

"It's nothing, just a private joke," Dave told Candace, who nodded.

The reason JJ was giggling, was that when Candace said they had already raised their own kids was because it was more true then the childcare worker knew. JJ had had more than those ten kids, she'd had plenty of kids in the past, before Spencer had joined their group, she, Dave and Aaron had been together for well over 100 years before they had finally met Spencer and they had of course, had children of during that time, lots of them.

"Sometimes of course, the relatives don't want them for whatever reason, so they go into the system if that's the case," Candace said.

"We know how the system works," Spencer told Candace gently.

"This isn't our first time around the block," Aaron agreed.

"We've never come up on this situation before, not specifically, but still, we're hardly young or naïve," Dave said.

Which was more true then Candace was aware of.

"We'll do whatever is necessary to make sure that these three grow up happily, as there is already more than enough tragedy in their past. Hopefully, we can make sure that it never happens again, though I'm aware that nobody can control what life brings," Spencer said. "I intend to make sure that the three don't have the same kind of childhood that I did."

Candace really didn't know what Spencer was talking about but she could guess very well, as like Lita she wasn't innocent or naïve. She could guess that Spencer had been abused in some way, although it was probably just neglect instead of physical, but that could be just as bad. Neglect was harder to pin down then physical abuse even though it was also considered a type of abuse. A lot of children were neglected, but very few of them where ever removed from the home unless it was extreme, because it was so hard to pin down and define. She guessed the neglect hadn't been bad enough or it was never reported, and she would put some money on number two. Still, neglect whether it was from the mother or the father or even both left emotional scars, which were worse then physical ones, because that kind of damage was always a part of your psyche, while physical scars healed.

She said nothing however, as it wasn't really her place and just watched the four other adults interact with the children and was very pleased with what she saw.

"We also know a lot about human nature, which is why we asked that whoever comes to check on the girls doesn't cause unnecessary problems," Dave told Candace who nodded in understanding. "We might get someone that genuinely wanted the best for the girls and genuinely didn't care about the fact that we are married to each other, but you never know what curveballs life will throw at you, so we thought we'd mention it, so that perhaps that kind of situation can be avoided."

"Well, as I said Mr. Rossi here has a strong claim because he is the half-brother and while their mother had a sister and she doesn't want anything to do with the girls."

Candace didn't even bother to mention the conversation she had with the girls aunt as it hadn't been pleasant at all.

"I thought Lita said I was their only living relative?" Spencer asked with a laser eyebrow.

"Well, let's put it this way you were the last hope," Candace said. "Let's just say the sister would not be considered an appropriate guardian and leave it at that."

"That's fine. We can guess very well what happened when you contacted her," Aaron said.

"Yes, we definitely can," JJ said.

Finally lunch was delivered and the group ate with the three girls chatting away to the adults, even as adults kept up their quiet conversation

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

A week later

"Wow! This place is huge!" Mista gasped in awe.

"Well, we told you it was," Spencer said amused at his sisters reactions, as all of them looked awestruck but then he also couldn't blame them, because he remembered how he reacted the first time he'd seen this place and he had been an adult of 35 not a six year old. He had long since gotten used to the magnificence of the house, but it taken him awhile. Now though, it was simply home, although he was well aware that the four of them would be moving at some point probably right after his sisters were grown.

"Why don't we show you around?" Dave said also quietly amused at the triplets reactions.

"Welcome home," Joan said opening the door as soon as they walked up the driveway.

"Thank you Joan," JJ said. "You have been missed."

"Well, I certainly didn't expect to be called back to duty this soon," Joan smiled with twinkling eyes.

"Girls, this is Joan and she will help look after you," Spencer told his sisters who were looking apprehensively at the woman. "Joan, this is Mista, Kalina and Silvie, my half sisters."

"Welcome! Welcome!" Joan told the girls smiling in a friendly way. "I just finished a fresh batch of cookies and you're welcome to come into the kitchen and get them.

"What kind of cookies?" Mista asked perking up at the mention of them.

"Chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, ginger snaps and even some double chocolate chunk," Joan answered.

"Wow!" all three girls eyes went wide, as they had never had so many different kinds of cookies at once before."

"You go with Joan and have a snack. We can show you the house after you're done," suggested Aaron smiling.

"Joan is a very good cook and she simply does the best deserts," Spencer added, as he kissed her on the cheek.

"Oh! You flatterer," Joan laughed thinking briefly that Spencer had changed so much in the last 25 years from the shy, introverted man she had known, but then living with this group you couldn't help, but change really, as she sure had. She had allowed Spencer to convince her to accept immortality, but she had to admit that he had made a lot of good points. So far, it wasn't a bad thing at all to be immortal. She certainly felt as if she had much more energy then she had when she'd still been mortal. She'd gotten used to having extra energy now as it had been quite a few years, but when it had first happened she felt as if she could run forever or leap a tall building in a single bound. Now that it had been over 25 years since they had given her the gift of immortality she felt healthier and she certainly hadn't had a cold or anything else since it had occurred. She was very happy to still be around to help serve this family that had always treated her as one of their own. She admitted she hadn't expected to call that she had received, but had come right back when she had learned about Spencer's half-sisters.

The fact that Spencer's father hadn't even thought to use protection and created the three cute and adorable little girls at his age, was frankly irresponsible, but she kept her opinions to herself. She already knew that Spencer, Dave, JJ and Aaron agreed with her without having to ask, and that they wouldn't want to say anything where the triplets could possibly overhear because the girls would probably misunderstand what they meant as they were only six after all.

"It's not flattery when it's true," JJ said, as she led the way into the house the others following.

They all ended up in the kitchen and Joan put a huge plate of cookies on the table.

"Who wants milk to go with their cookies?" Joan asked smiling as every body grabbed one. "I went to the store just yesterday, since I knew you'd be home today and stocked up."

Everybody wanted milk and so Joan along with Dave started getting glasses out of the cabinet.

While those two were busy JJ opened the fridge and took out one of the gallons of milk, as Joan had bought six, as little kids tended to drink a lot of it so it wasn't likely to spoil and really everybody in the house were big milk drinkers, though Spencer still preferred his coffee.

Nearly everybody liked milk unless they were lactose intolerant, which certainly didn't apply to anyone in the house.

All the adults watched, as the triplets enjoyed their snack, even as they enjoyed their own.

"So are you girls ready to see the rest of the house?" Spencer asked once the girls were finished with their cookies and milk

The girls nodded eagerly so Spencer led the way.

"The three of you can choose whatever rooms you want as all our children are grown," Aaron said.

"Once you do so, perhaps tomorrow we can go furniture shopping," JJ added. "Of course, if you like the furniture in the room, just let us know and you can certainly keep it, but I thought you might like something that suits your taste."

"We can repaint to or put a fresh wallpaper whichever you prefer," Dave said.

"We also need to go clothes shopping, which probably should come first before furniture shopping," JJ added.

"We have clothes," Silvie protested.

"Yes, you do when what was bought for you is very nice, but your mother couldn't afford anything really expensive," JJ explained gently. "Everybody in this house has a ton of clothes and soon you will to."

"Besides, children you're age grow out of their clothes on a regular basis, as all kids grow fast at your age," Spencer said. "Even I have a ton of clothes and I'm certainly not the clotheshorse that JJ is.

JJ simply stuck at her tongue childishly at Spencer who smiled.

"I didn't have very many clothes either before I joined these three. To tell you the truth, I simply didn't care so long as I had clothes that weren't patched, as I didn't care about style so long as I matched," Spencer admitted.

"Now that's the truth," Dave said smiling, as he remembered what Spencer had been wearing the first time they had met. "He wore a lot of long sleeves, because he didn't have any body fat, which meant that he was cold all the time, even in the middle of summer."

"Well, you soon had that corrected," Spencer smiled.

"It took a lot of good meals for you to put on weight," Aaron who had been mostly silent said.

"So what do you think?" JJ asked the girls, as she pushed open a door.

"Wow this is really big," Mista said.

"Yeah, the room we were in at home was a lot smaller," Kalina added.

"And we had to share," Silvie said.

"Well, you can do that here and there's plenty of space to or you can have you own," Spencer said.

"This room is okay with me," Kalina said.

"Well, if Kalina's going to take that room, you two can have rooms right next door or across the hall or even on a different floor, whatever suits," JJ offered.

"I think right next door," Silvie said and Mista nodded in agreement.

"Which is just fine," JJ promised.

"If you need any of us in the middle of the night we're a floor up," Spencer said.

"We'll show you where the master bedroom is and where Joan's room is in case you need us for something, like if you have a nightmare," Aaron said.

"If you do need us don't worry about disturbing us, as we don't mind I promise you," Dave said.

"We want you to be comfortable here," JJ said. "So what do you think of the furniture? Do you want something totally new?"

"Let's not overwhelm them. We can worry about painting or new furniture once they've settled in," Spencer suggested and JJ nodded.

"This is great," Mista said, as she chose a room right next to her sister's and then jumped on the bed. Not even a small puff of dust answered her as the droid had cleaned the room yesterday just like it did on a weekly basis. It was a good thing they had a droid, because to clean a place like this, even if they closed up rooms that they weren't using them would take a great deal of time and be an endless process.

"Glad you like it," Spencer smiled.

"Yes, Mista right this is great," Silvie said, as she look into the room right next to Mista's. "These are so much bigger then the one we were sharing and we can still share if you want us to."

"That's not necessary unless it's what you want," Joan who had been silent said. "I could understand if you wanted to stay together and the rooms are certainly big enough for that, but we have a ton of bedrooms that are not being used. Even when these four had their own children we still had plenty of guestrooms for when they had friends over."

"Now that's the truth," Spencer smiled. "When I first joined up with this lot I felt this house was too big by half, but now it's home. I certainly appreciate the privacy."

"Come on, kids let us show you the rest of the house. We have a pool, although you're not allowed to use it without an adult present," Aaron said.

"But on the bright side none of us mind joining you in the pool most of the time, unless we're extremely busy elsewhere which doesn't happen often," Dave added.

"Wow! You have a pool?" asked Kalina impressed.

"Yeah, we had one put in right after we moved in, as all of us like to swim," JJ said.

"And ours can be used all year round, because it's heated and we had it put in the only spot available the basement," Aaron added. "We could've had a building built for it as we do own a lot of land, but that seemed a little extreme."

"We could've just had one put outside, but then we wouldn't be able use it in the winter or when it was really cold or rainy in the spring or fall," Dave said.

Of course, as Immortals yes, they could have, but why freeze their butts off, even if they couldn't get sick?

"The basement has been set up as an area to relax and have fun," Joan said. "It has a TV with a video game console, though that probably needs to be replaced since I'm sure they've come out with a new one since Xander left home."

"It also has a video player and we have a whole selection of videos," JJ said.

"Why don't we just show you," Dave said quietly amused, although you couldn't tell unless you knew him well, but it was in his posture and tone of voice.

The little girls looked very excited, so Dave led the way to the basement to show them how it had been set up as a entertainment area.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~


	16. Chapter 16

Epilogue

Part 3

Hours later all three girls were all pooped out so they were put into night clothes and then tucked into bed.

"Well, they're sleeping like little angels," Joan said with a soft smile on the lips.

"Yes they are and I think it's time for us to retire as well, as it's been a rather long day," Aaron said.

"It's nice to have children in the house again," Joan said.

"Yeah, it really is," Spencer agreed, as he looked in on each of the girls. "I want to adopt them, but that can wait until they're really comfortable with us before any of us bring it up. In a year, perhaps two, we can talk to them about it when they're a little older, as I want them to have a choice."

"I'm sure they'll say yes, but it's probably a good idea to wait at least a year before you bring it up," JJ said. "Give them time to settle in, get used to us and get over the trauma of losing both their parents within a short amount of time. Right now, this situation they find themselves in is still new and strange and probably scary."

The five of them walked down to the living room so the girls wouldn't hear them talking.

"So how did you find out that you had three sisters Spencer?" Joan asked, as she hadn't heard the story yet.

Spencer explained how he had found out and how he had reacted at first.

"So this lawyer tracked you down and told you about your half-sisters," Joan summarized.

"Yes, and I was shocked at first, who wouldn't be?" Spencer said. "My first thought was how could my father be so irresponsible as to get a woman who was probably 40 or 50 years younger than he was pregnant? I can certainly understand the need for sex, even at my father's age as he would've been in his early 80s when they were conceived. I don't really care about what my father's sexual habits were, but I am shocked that he was irresponsible enough to get some woman pregnant and that he actually acknowledged the girls as his. I think it's that second thing that shocks me the most, because they weren't exactly legitimate since he never married the woman he was living with. When I was a kid he was all about presenting a proper façade out in public."

"He might've acknowledged them, but he sure didn't provide for them in his will," Dave snorted in contempt. "If the mother hadn't killed herself over the bastard, well, she wouldn't have had enough money to keep supporting them on her own. We all know how expensive one child is to raise, much less three."

"Well, that's no longer going to be a problem," Spencer said. "I won't lie and say I'm not glad my father's no longer among the living, because really I don't care one way or the other. Just because he was shacking up with the girls mother doesn't make him a parent. If he hadn't had that heart attack he could have lived another hundred years, but he did. In any case, those three girls are now our responsibility until they are old enough to have their own lives just like all our children."

"It's a responsibility that I'll accept gladly," Joan said.

"That's something I think I can say all of us agree with," Aaron said. "Those girls are technically, Spencer's half siblings after all, and there's no way we wouldn't take them in since the other option was several foster homes. They were living with three different families when Lita finally tracked Spencer down."

"Unfortunately, that's the way it works most times," Joan said. "Most foster parents out there can't take in more than 1 or 2, not even with the money they get from the government, especially if they have their own kids."

"It doesn't matter," Dave said. "They're ours now and in a year or two, Spencer will adopt them unless they don't want that, which I don't see as a likely possibility, but that's for the future."

"I think it's time for all of us to head to bed, as I'm sure the girls will probably be up early," JJ said.

"You're right," Joan acknowledged. "It's really good to be home and back with my family."

"What weren't you enjoying your vacation?" Aaron teased her.

"Oh, I was, but that didn't mean I didn't miss having children to look after and you. Still, it was nice to have some peace and quiet to travel a little," Joan said. "I might point out though that now that I'm immortal, since Spencer convinced me it was the best thing to do, that I can go back to my vacation once these girls are grown up."

"True enough, as we don't intend on having any children probably for at least 20 or 30 years, after these three are off to college."

"So will you turn them immortal or even tell them about your immortality?" Joan asked.

"Yes, we will tell them once they're older," Dave said, "as that was always our intention. If they want to be turned immortal and they prove responsible, then yes, we'll do so just like we did for Henry and for you."

"Well, the way you did me was certainly more pleasant if what I've heard about how Henry was turned Immortal is true," Joan smiled.

"I'm glad the transfusion of our blood, so that it went directly into your bloodstream worked so well," Dave said. "Now that we know it works next time we want to turn someone immortal that's the way we'll do it."

"If only you had discovered that method before we turned Henry Immortal," JJ said laughing, as she remembered her oldest son's reaction to having to drink a lot of nasty blood over a week.

"Well yes it would've been nice, but it never occurred to me or Aaron either," Dave said.

"Henry's reaction was quite amusing when he found out how it was done, since the sex method wasn't a possibility," Aaron said his dark eyes twinkling with mirth.

"Yes, it was," JJ agreed immediately and Dave smiled because Henry's reaction has been very funny at the time, though he could certainly understand how gross drinking somebody else's blood was.

"Well, at least now you have another method next time you went turn someone immortal, and Zola gets the kudos for supposedly thinking of it," JJ said.

"Which is just fine as all of us like the quiet life," Spencer said.

"Absolutely," Dave agreed. "We definitely don't need the attention."

"Nor do we want it," Aaron added.

The five of them continued to talk for a minute, but then all of them headed to bed for it had indeed been a long day.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

11 years later

"You three will be going to college in the fall," Spencer began.

His three half-sisters were now grown women or nearly anyway and it was hard to believe it had been 11 years. Over the last decade they had turned into beautiful young women. They still had their brown hair, although Silvie had silver streaks in hers, and Kalina had blue, and Mista had gone for a kind of metallic green.

Spencer had never seen the value of changing your eyes or hair color, but he knew teenagers and even adults did so and it was simple, fast and easy. Well, it was harmless to do so, so it wasn't like he could stop his sisters from changing their looks. Really though, they were his daughters as he had adopted them as promised with their permission. Considering he was their only living relative with no parents or other relatives to protest it hadn't been as hard to adopt them as it would have been if he wasn't related.

"Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it," Kalina said looking eager.

"So am I," Mista agreed.

"What's this about?" Silvie asked as she looked at all the older adults serious faces.

"Oh, it's nothing bad," JJ promised. JJ was the girls mother in every way just as Spencer was their father. Dave, Aaron and Joan were also parental figures to them, though Joan was more of a grandmother to them, while Dave and Aaron were like uncles.

"You're aware that the supernatural exists as part of everyday life," Spencer began.

"You're telling us that this has something to do with magic?" Silvie asked wrinkling her nose in confusion.

"Not magic precisely," Aaron said. "Tell me how old would you say I looked? Any of us looked?"

"You know come to think of it none of you don't look like you've aged a day since we came to live here," Kalina said thoughtfully. "I just never noticed before until it was pointed out."

"You look exactly the same, no extra wrinkles, no gray hair," Silvie said in realization. "How is that possible?"

"Well, there is such a thing as plastic surgery," Mista said. "From what I understand you could have your faces done, so you looked exactly the same, but none of you are that vain or at least I don't believe so."

"That's true, but that's not what happened here," Dave said. "Plastic surgery would take several operations and you can usually tell when somebody's had it done."

"So if it's not plastic surgery why do the five of you all the same age?" Kalina asked puzzled.

"Well, part of its clean living and because we're so happy together," Spencer said. "Being so happy and content used to be a pretty unusual event for me until I hooked up with this lot. However, that's not the answer either in this case."

"Well, if you haven't had plastic surgery and it can't be just because you're happy and content with your lives, because you must be close to a hundred by now and nobody that'll looks as good as you do naturally."

"That's truer then you know," Spencer said. "Technically, I'm in my late 70s, even though I'm well aware that nobody would be able to guess my age if they tried."

"No way!" Silvie protested. "There's no way you can be that old."

"And would you say if I told you that I'm way over 500, nearly 600 years old?" Dave asked with quiet amusement.

"I would say no way as nobody lives that long or at least you would be a very wrinkly old man," Mista said.

"They do if their immortal," Dave told her and the three sisters stared at him as if he had lost his mind.

"There's no such thing as immortals," Kalina protested.

"Do you really think we would bring up the subject if they didn't exist?" Spencer asked. "I was just over 60 when I discovered I had three half-sisters and I remember Lita's, that was the attorney that managed to track me down, amazed reaction when she found out I was the person she was looking for, because I looked way too young. She was farther amazed to find out that Dave, Aaron and JJ also looked just as young, as I did and the three of them had already been married for a good long time before I came into the picture."

"But I've never heard of Immortals, none of us have," Silvie protested.

"That's because immortals live very quietly, as quietly as possible in today's society," Aaron explained. "We move around every few decades and we'll be moving to another city just as soon as you head off to college in the fall, as we've been at this location for quite awhile now. We hadn't really been here long when we found Spencer so I suppose we could stay another 20 or 30 years if we wanted to."

"I vote to stay until we absolutely have to leave, as we are all comfortable here and moving is such a pain. I mean humans can live for well over 200 years now and we can always claim we had body sculpting and facelifts if anybody asks how we maintain our youth," JJ said.

"I'm sure you want to prove that we're telling the truth," Joan said. "I certainly did when I found out about them as I was quite mortal just like you girls."

"You mean you can change someone into an immortal?" Kalina asked amazed.

"Yes, you can and in fact, everyone here, except for me was born mortal just like you," Dave said. "There's actually two methods to turning someone Immortal. The first isn't it for you as it involves sex and not only are you technically our children, everybody except for Joan are mated to each other, which means to cheat on each other is impossible."

All three girls blushed at that for they were only 17 and very shy when it came to that particular subject, because they hadn't had any experience in the area.

"Yes, I know that subject embarrasses you just like it does most young people," Spencer said grinning a little. "I know it embarrassed me at first and I was much older then you were, but I freely admit I didn't have much experience in that area before these three got their hands on me."

"Hey! You were more than a willing participant," Dave protested grinning.

"I never said I wasn't," Spencer protested mildly. "I just said I didn't have much experience."

"So what's the second method?" Silvie asked desperate to get off the subject of sex.

"It involves our blood, which also carries our DNA and our immortality within it. The way we turned Joan immortal was we had our doctor, Zola give her a transfusion. Blood is a powerful force, even more powerful than the first method that was mentioned. It took a much shorter time to turn Joan immortal then it did any of these three," Dave explained.

"So you're telling us this now, why?" Mista asked.

"Well, we thought we'd offer it to you," Spencer said. "You don't have to decide right now, as you have as much time as you like to think about it and if you don't want to be immortal then that's okay to."

"So let me get this straight, the reason you look so young is because you're immortal?" Kalina said.

"Immortals stop aging at 30, those that are naturally born anyway," Dave said. "Spencer looks a few years older because we didn't meet him until he was 35 and he wasn't turned immortal until about a year later. I met Aaron when he was just a boy of 14 and rescued him from a bad situation and he started to be turned Immortal when he was 18 and of legal age to make his own decisions."

"JJ was 31 when we met her and she was turned immortal just months later so she would've been about 32," Aaron added.

"In every case, it was the persons decision," Joan added. "Spencer is the one that convinced me to let them turn me immortal, because I had refused at first when the other three offered before they met Spencer, but he did make a lot of good points which is why I finally agreed."

"And we are certainly glad you did," JJ said sincerely. "Joan found out about us totally by accident, but accepted it much easier than most people would."

"We had never intended to tell her, but I wasn't paying attention when the knife slipped and cut my finger and she happened to be there helping to prepare supper. Unlike most people she didn't dismiss what she had seen, so we ended up having to tell her and she believed me, because she'd watched my finger heal in less than ten seconds. We had other nannies before as we'd had other children before the ones we had with Joan as nanny and while they were paid and treated well they never came close to being family or to learning about immortals," Dave explained.

"It's not easy to find that kind of loyalty, which was one of the reasons we offered to turn her immortal," JJ said. "She could be semiretired, travel or whatever whenever we didn't have children and then come back to work for us whenever we started to have a few more."

"Well, you've always been kind to us, but this story is hard to believe," Silvie said.

"We're well aware of it," Aaron admitted, smiling. "Now, let's show you some proof that we are what we say as we all know it's hard to accept that immortals like magicals exist."

"Magicals might have powers that nobody else does, but they also die even if they're longer lived," Spencer said. "Technically, we could live forever, but we can be killed it's just harder, because we heal so fast, so I suppose it's kind of a limited immortality, as we don't age from the time we reach 30 or are changed. Aaron for example started to be changed at 18 and yet he looks the same age as the rest of us.

Aaron took a pocket knife out of his back pocket and snapped open the knife attachment, just as Dave had done for him so long ago. He however, did not give it to one of the girls to test because they had no reason to be suspicious and think it was some kind of trick like he had. He had been very suspicious mind with good reason he knew, but these girls didn't have the same experiences that he'd had that had made him that way.

Aaron cut his palm deeply and the three 17 year old girls gasped and begin to rise to their feet, but then noticed that all the adults in the room didn't look worried. In fact, Joan simply produced a roll of paper towels as they had been sitting on the table behind her and Aaron took several to wipe off his hand to show that the deep slashing his palm had completely healed.

"Wow! You weren't joking!" Mista exclaimed.

"We knew that's what you believed. That it was some kind joke we were playing on you, even though we've never done such a thing before," Dave said in quiet amusement. "I admit I would have likely believed the same thing if I hadn't been born immortal, way back in the early 20th century, the 1930s actually."

"So why tell us now why not tell us earlier or even after we finish college?" Kalina asked.

"We thought this would give you plenty of time to reach a decision," Spencer said. "Also, we wouldn't have told you at all if you hadn't proven yourself responsible and able to keep a secret. That immortals exist must remain a secret you understand and you're not to tell anybody."

"Why not? I would think it would be great to be immortal," Silvie said enthusiastically.

"Think for a moment," Aaron told her seriously. "What do you think would happen if most people found out that our kind actually existed?"

"People can be greedy, selfish and a lot of them have very few ethics or morals," Spencer said shaking his head. "They would want immortality for all the wrong reasons and people might even start a modern day witch hunt, except that they'd be hunting immortals instead of magicals. Thousands of people, tens of thousands, would be hurt or even die before all was said and done. No, it is best that immortals remain a secret and only a few mortals that have proven trustworthy ever find out."

"Of course, we have a lot of irresponsible people to and there's been more close calls then you can imagine over the centuries, but most immortals are very careful about who they reveal their immortality to. As for me I've only revealed it to the three of you, Aaron, JJ and Spencer because they're my mates and also JJ's son Henry who is also now immortal. As for Joan I didn't actually tell her, she saw my finger heal so we kind of had to tell her after that," Dave said

"You've mentioned the term mate several times. What precisely does that mean?" asked Kalina curiously.

"Well, it's like this," Dave begin to explain.

With the help of his three mates he explained all about how immortals had at least one and it was the same as a soulmate for a human. He explained how Immortals came to be and all about the history of their race.

It took several hours and Joan left at one point to bring out snacks, but finally it was done.

"I know this is a lot for you three to absorb," Spencer told the girls. "It was certainly a lot for me to absorb and I was over a decade older when I found out, nearly two actually, but I need your words you won't reveal this to anyone. I mean no one unless they are your mate and I want you to discuss it with us first."

"I don't think we have to worry about any of them finding their mate for a couple hundred years at least as that's usually the the way it works," Dave said calmly. "I didn't find Aaron for nearly 300 after all, though I admit both of us found JJ less then a century later."

"And you didn't find me for over 100 years after that," Spencer added smiling.

"I'm glad that we did because you were the final piece that completed our family," Dave said kissing Spencer's cheek affectionately.

All three girls watched this with smiles well used to seeing their parents in everyway showing affection for each other, although they saved the physical intimacy for their bedroom and they were grateful.

"I've always wondered what made you so close," Silvie commented. "I've noticed for a long time that you were much closer being any of my girlfriends parents, but now I believe I understand better."

"Yes, we're so close because we're mates or at least that's a big part of it," JJ said looking at Spencer, Dave and Aaron.

"But we're also big advocates of honesty and fairness and that right there is what makes our marriage work so well," Spencer added. "Yes, cheating on each other is out of the question, because of the bond between us, but our trust in each other runs much deeper than that because we make honesty and fairness the cornerstones of our relationship, which is something I at least have always appreciated."

"If more people did so divorce would be a lot lower in this country, mostly because those relationships don't have the benefit of a bond that means those that are actually mates don't even think about cheating," JJ told the three girls. "These three do more than their share of chores, instead of leaving it just me and Joan and that helps keep our relationship on an even keel. Believe me, I appreciate the fact, that they do the laundry as often as I do, go grocery shopping, take out the trash or clean up after a meal. They just do a lot of things that a lot of men leave to the wife or the hired help, which is one reason that so many marriages began to break up because we females can resent being underappreciated and also working ourselves to the bone with absolutely no assistance from the man or men in the relationship. I mean we are basically human after all, so we do have emotions and being treated like a slave or a piece of chattel and working ourselves to exhaustion on a regular basis is not appreciated by most women."

"While some men help out with the chores a great many of them, even in this century, see it as the wife's or hired help's responsibility," Dave said.

"Those that help out around the house and with the other chores their marriages tend to last longer, even a lifetime," Spencer said.

"If a woman wants to take on a more traditional role and do all the housework, vacuum, dust and so forth then that's her prerogative," JJ told the triplets.

"But nowadays, and for centuries most women want careers as well as families and they should be allowed to have both," Joan said.

"But you're not married," Silvie protested.

"I was a very long time ago sweetie, long before I started working for this lot," Joan said. "My children are long since grown and I have grandchildren and even a few great-grandchildren. I started working for Dave, Aaron and JJ soon after my husband passed away."

"Well, we could stay here for hours discussing the fact that everybody is different," Spencer said. "Human behavior is wide and varied and it depends a lot on multiple factors. However, I don't think we need to get into that right now as you need time to absorb what you've been told."

"I was just as shocked as you are now when Dave and Aaron told me about the fact that they were immortal and gave me a demonstration just like they did you. I did accept though, because I was already in love with both of them and they accepted Henry my son who wasn't even born yet. I had a relationship with a guy not long before I met Dave and Aaron and he got me pregnant. I'd already decided to keep the baby as I've been wanting children for several years, but didn't think I was going to meet the right guy anytime soon and I wasn't getting any younger. I met Aaron and Dave shortly after that," JJ said smiling at her three mates.

"Wow! That's really romantic," Mista decided.

"I suppose," JJ said smiling. "I don't know if it was fate finally giving me a break or if I was just lucky, but I quickly decided it didn't matter. Ever since I met them I've been very happy."

"You've given us a lot think about," Kalina said and the other two nodded.

"We know and you have as much time to think about whether not you want to be immortal as you want," Dave said.

"I know we'll have a lot of questions once we've gotten over our shock," Mista said.

"I'm sure you will too," Spencer smiled at his sisters. "We're sorry to spring this on you, but we figured it was time."

"And there was really no more gentle way to let us in on the big secret," Silvie suggested shrewdly.

"No, because no matter how we told you, you still would've been just as shocked as you are now," Aaron said with an understanding smile. "I remember my own reaction perfectly well when Dave told me he was immortal and that I was his mate and I was only 14 at the time. My childhood was such that I was very suspicious until he proved it to me just like we did you."

The three girls didn't really understood what that meant, but figure that their uncle in every way had been abused in some way. They well knew that Aaron wouldn't likely give them any details, since they had been extremely sheltered after their parents deaths, so they weren't even going to ask, because they doubted that they would get an answer.

"Just think about it is all we ask," Spencer said. "Think about it seriously and work out the pros and cons. Immortality isn't all it's cracked up to be, as it can be hard to keep yourself busy, especially if you don't have someone to keep busy with. It wasn't really a decision for me once I realized I loved these three, which took me awhile because my childhood wasn't exactly very good. Let's just say I was say I received absolutely no love when I was a child, not after my mother fell ill anyway, which is why it took me a long time to figure out I was in love with these three."

"We will think about it," Kalina promised.

"Take as long as you want I as there's no rush," Dave said. "I know very well that we have shocked you with what you've been told. Being told someone was immortal would shock anyone, even someone who was twice your age."

"It certainly did me," Spencer said smiling a little.

"Yeah, we are shocked," Mista admitted.

"But more about the fact that we never noticed that you haven't aged day since you took us in just over 10 years ago," Silvie said.

"Are we unobservant or what?" Kalina added.

"Most people don't notice that kind of thing or at least they don't think about it," Aaron admitted.

"Either that or they just figure we had a body and face work done and we just don't disabuse them of that notion," Dave added his brown eyes twinkling.

"We aren't close to most people anyway, except our own family," Spencer said. "We have friends certainly, but mostly they're just casual."

"It's kind hard to get close to someone knowing that they're going to die in a few decades," Joan admitted.

"But it is easier then it would otherwise be, because we have each other," Aaron said.

"Yeah, I remember those days very well before I met Aaron," Dave said. "Why don't we just order pizza tonight I'm not really in the mood to cook and it is around dinnertime."

The three girls were all for that and had all the adults smiling.

"I'll order the pizzas I remember when anybody likes by now," Spencer said smiling.

"Of course, you do with your eidetic memory," JJ said rolling her eyes at her mate's attempt to downplay his perfect memory. She could certainly understand not wanting to many other people to know about it though, as he would be considered weird at the very least and he definitely didn't want to be thought of as the man who remembered everything. Most people didn't realize that just because someone had a eidetic memory didn't mean it was all a bed of roses. No, there was a serious downside to having that kind of memory and one of those was you could never forget a tragedy, like if someone important to that person died. Of course, that was a good side to and that was being able to remember all the good times. All the times that someone spent with their spouse or spouses, seeing their children grow up and accomplish great things and being able to remember every moment.

"The pizza should be here probably in half an hour to 45 minutes or so," Dave said. "You might as well go ahead and order at least four because you know we'll demolish it in a few days."

"That's a good idea," Spencer said smiling.

All of them separated and went in different directions.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

"So what do you think about what parents told us?" Mista asked, as soon as she and her two sisters were alone.

"I think I'm still in shock," Silvie said. "Alright, magic and magicals exist and we all accept that, as it's just part of everyday life, but immortals and immortality is just to step too far."

"I agree with you, but they did prove it to us," Kalina admitted.

"Yeah, I was rather shocked when Uncle Aaron cut his palm so deeply and the others didn't react with panic," Mista said. "They just stood there looking all calm and collected. We all know they would have reacted with panic if Uncle Aaron had cut himself seriously and it didn't heal within a few seconds. We all saw when he wiped the blood away there was no wound."

"Yeah, I know, but I'm still having trouble accepting what I saw," Kalina said.

"We all are, but with such a big secret it's just going to take us awhile to absorb it," Silvie said practically. "You know that they've never been anything but honest with us and I feel so honored that they felt they could trust us enough to tell us such a great secret."

"Yes, it's got to be the greatest secret of the world has never known," Mista said.

"But what do you really think about being turned immortal?" asked Kalina.

"I'm not really sure yet," Mista admitted. "They said there was no rush, so we have as much time as we need so long as we don't tell anybody and I can understand their point of view. Immortals must remain a deep secret. Dad was right when he said that there would be thousands, even millions of deaths if it was discovered that immortals were real, as people would want what they have."

"Yeah, I know, but I was just so excited when I discovered that something like immortals was real," Silvie sighed. "I suppose though, if magicals can exist immortals can to. Their race is apparently thousands of years old and yet that they've been able to keep their secret for so long is pretty amazing."

"I'm sure there's been a lot of close calls though, our parents said as much actually," Kalina said. "They said that immortals are just like humans, except for the fact that they don't age past 30 if they're born that is. Dad might be technically 36 or at least that's when he was changed, but he barely looks 30 and I'm astonished that I didn't notice before having it pointed out to me. Are we unobservant or what?"

"I never really thought about it," Mista shrugged.

"Neither did I, which is why all of us were so shocked because we had really paid attention to how they had aged. I'm sure we would have thought It was done by plastic surgery if we had thought about it at all, as it wouldn't have occurred to us that it was something like immortality."

"Of course not, we weren't aware that immortality existed, even if it's kind of a limited immortality, since they can be killed, just can't get sick and don't age past a certain point," Silvie said.

"I say we all think about it and get together in a week or so once we've had more time to absorb the news," Kalina said. "Immortality might be the way we want to go, but we were also warned about the pitfalls."

"Yeah, we really need to think about it individually before we discuss it again," Mista agreed.

"I think that Uncle Dave and the others are being really responsible. Giving us time to think about it and not pushing us in the direction and I'm sure they want us to go. If we decide against it, well, they might not be happy with our decision but they'll still accept it."

"I hadn't thought about that, but it would be hard to lose someone you love," Silvie said.

"Especially hard, since we're family," Kalina said.

The three were silent for a long time, as they sat in the small sitting area that was part of Silvie's room.

"You know we have years to make a decision, so why rush it along?" Mista said.

"Yeah, we're nowhere near 30 yet," Silvie agreed.

"Fine, we'll talk about it again and keep talking about it as often as we can until we reach a decision one way or the other, as long as that's okay with you two," Kalina said.

"That seems like the sensible thing to do to me, because we can keep going around and around about this and not get anywhere. No, we need time to think, to get over the shock. For right now, we try to act like normal, excited about going to college in the fall," Mista said.

"About getting out on our own as we'll go to the same college so we'll be sharing an apartment," Silvie said.

"This is the time we take our first tentative steps out into the real world with no adult supervision, where we'll be living completely on our own with no one to report to and we don't have to be home at a certain time," Kalina said.

The three 17 year girls contemplated that, thinking that this really was the start of the rest of their lives.

~~~Dave, Aaron, JJ, Spencer~~~

Several years later

Spencer, Aaron Dave and JJ slid into their seats where their three girls would be graduating from college. It was hard to believe that Silvie, Mista and Kalina were done with college, but they were. All of them had decided that they wanted to go to the same college and share an apartment and their parents had agreed that they were mature enough to not have to live in the dorms. They also thought it would be safer for them and easier to study.

The three girls who were 24 years old were now immortal, but they would keep aging until they were 30 just as Aaron had. After that, they would stop aging physically at least, though they certainly wouldn't mentally and emotionally.

"It's hard to believe they're graduating," Spencer told the others softly.

"Yeah, I know it is," JJ said sighing nostalgically. "The years sure have passed fast."

"Well, look at it this way we are now free to travel like we wanted to do before they came to live with us," Dave said.

"It's way past time for us to move on anyway," Aaron pointed out quietly. "We've been living in that house for over 30 years now, closer to 35 and people are beginning to get curious as to why all of us still look so young, not to mention move like much younger people than we actually are. We don't show the typical signs of aging and while that can be just lucky genetics for it to happen to all four of us are astronomical. Yes, we fobbed them off by saying we keep ourselves in shape or we've had plastic surgery done if they ask why we don't look our ages, but still, I think it's way past time that we move somewhere else. I know we discussed a few years ago staying longer, but I don't think in this case it would be wise"

"I have to agree as eventually that curiosity Aaron mentioned is going to turn into something else, like suspicion. They might never figure out what we are without actually confronting us, but they might suspect we used dark magic or something to stay so young and that wouldn't be good for any of us. We don't need peoples attention," Dave concurred. "I think it's better that we start our plans as soon as possible and we just won't come back. People will forget about us in a few years or at least they will think about us on a near constant basis. Once we have gone peoples suspicions will start to seem rather silly, because we're not constantly around to remind people of them."

"As much as I don't want to leave, because I've been so happy in that house, I have to say I think you're right," JJ said quietly. "I've noticed some of the women looking at me and not in a friendly manner either. I think they are beginning to believe that we did something to ourselves, made a deal with the devil, used dark magic or something to continue to look so young. Plastic surgery after all, can only do so much and while it can keep our faces and bodies looking young we move much more easily and freely than most older people do. Now, if it was just one of us that still moved like a much younger person then there would be no reason for people suspicions, but since it's all of us... Let's just say the odds of all of us still looking and acting much younger then our real ages are very high."

"JJ's right, people are beginning to notice how we still act much younger and I won't say they are suspicious quite yet, but they know we must be at least in our 80s and most 80-year-olds don't look as good as we do," Spencer said. "Of course occasionally someone who's that old doesn't look their age and sometimes by a considerable amount, but the odds of that happening to all of those in the same family are astronomical."

"Not even with a much longer lifespan nowadays," Aaron said.

"Alright, we're all in agreement then," Dave said. "I know all of us have been very happy in our home, but it's time to move on as we've been here probably too long already."

"Not yet, but it will soon be if we are to oblivious to notice the signs of people getting suspicious. Right now, people are just a little suspicious, but that suspicion will become more solid if we continue not to show any signs of aging, silver in our hair for example," suggested Spencer. "I know they're not likely to come upon the real answer, but that doesn't mean that they won't think we're demons or sold our souls or something equally ridiculous," Spencer said.

"What about your shop though?" Aaron asked quietly.

"Some of the children would be interested in taking it over, temporarily anyway," Spencer said. "They can always say that their parents are traveling and gave them the shop at least on a temporary basis. Eventually I can sign it over to whichever of the children is interested in taking it over on a permanent basis. I can always start another shop elsewhere and I can always say I am the son or the grandson of the one that started the original."

"We'll work out the details later. This place is beginning to fill up," Dave suggested quietly. "Let's wait until we get back to our hotel to discuss it further."

The others didn't answer, but nodded and fell silent, as the multiple rows of chairs really were beginning to fill up now and there was too much chance of being overheard.

The four Rossis watched proudly as the last of the children, now grown, walked across the stage to receive their diplomas.

"So are those your children?" asked one of the females that was sitting might next to Spencer.

"Yes, they are," Spencer answered quietly. "They're triplets and they all decided they wanted to go to the same college and I don't blame them since multiples are usually very close."

He didn't bother to explain to the lady that they weren't really his children, but his siblings because he had legally adopted them years ago after all. Besides, he doubted that lady would understand if he told her that he was way over 70, really closer to 80 and his sisters were only 24. There was no point of rehashing old history, and besides, he didn't want to explain that his father had been very irresponsible all his life snd had gotten a much younger woman pregnant when he was in his 90s.

"They are last of our children so we are going to do some traveling in now that they are all grown up," JJ added.

"I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself I'm Spencer Rossi, this is my wife JJ and my husbands Dave and Aaron," Spencer introduced.

The woman didn't look shocked or disgusted all the Rossis noticed which meant that she at least accepted that group marriages of any combination of sexes were quite normal in today's society.

"And I'm Leisha Utley."

"So which one is yours?" JJ asked quietly.

"Oh he hasn't come up on stage yet, since our last name is Utley. His name is Pancho, rather unusual I know."

"There is nothing wrong with unusual names," Dave offered smiling. "Spencer isn't exactly normal either, although it is certainly more normal then Pancho."

"It's not like the triplets have normal names, ones that are used regularly by people. Personally, I think this gives them more individuality then if we named him Allison or Megan or Jenny ones that are used often."

"That's true," Leisha said brightening.

"Would you and your son like to come to dinner with us?" Dave offered politely smiling. "We're going to take our girls out for a nice supper once we can get out of here."

"That's really nice of you Mr. Rossi, but I wouldn't want to impose on your hospitality," Leisha said.

"There's no need to be so formal I'm Dave, that's Aaron, she's JJ and he's Spencer," Dave said.

"None of us are overly big on formality," Spencer said smiling. "We're all very casual people."

"Leisha," Leisha said smiling. She really liked this family, as they were all genuinely kind people and it was clear they were proud of their children, which made them good people in her book. "Well if you really don't mind and so long as it's okay with my son then that sounds really nice."

"We really don't mind," Spencer said smiling.

"Well okay then," Leisha decided. "I'm sure Pancho won't mind if we join you for dinner."

"I'm sure our three won't either," Aaron said. "They might even know each other, even if I know it's a big campus."

All of them watched the ceremony closely, until finally it was over a couple of hours later.

"We're supposed to meet the girls out front," Aaron said.

"That sounds fine," Leisha said smiling. "I'll just call Pancho and tell him to meet us. So where are we going for dinner?"

"One of the nicest places in town," Dave said smiling. "I think the girls deserve that after all their hard work. In fact, they graduated with honors."

"We actually don't eat out all that often, since Dave is such a terrific cook," Spencer said smiling, "but we do occasionally for anniversaries and birthdays."

"So eating out is something of a treat," JJ said.

All five of them chatted, getting to know each other until they finally reached the front of the college, where they waited patiently for their children to join them.

When all the children had finally arrived and introductions had taken place all of them got into their separate vehicles and Dave led the way to the restaurant that had been chosen.

Once they had arrived and parked, they all entered the restaurant where Dave had made a reservation. He gave his name and they we led straight to their table, that was big enough for at least 10 people, which was a good thing considering there were nine of them.

All of them chatted and waited for their dinners and continues to talk even once their food had arrived.

It was a nice evening and all of them promised to keep in contact with each other, exchanging numbers before parting ways to return home and in the Rossis case to make arrangements to travel and settle down elsewhere, though not right away of course.

The girls returned to the hotel with them and once they had privacy they were told they would be moving. The triplets were sad, but knew it was necessary and also knew that they would end up doing the same thing multiple times in their centuries, as they were now immortal and had been for just over a year.

Spencer and the others promised to keep in contact with them, but they didn't know where they were going quite yet, as they had yet to decide. The triplets accepted this knowing that it was just the way immortals had to live, even if they didn't want to leave their home.

"We are very proud of you three," Spencer said.

"So in honor of your graduation we are paying for you to go anywhere you want for the next several months whether that's Paris or Italy or Australia," Dave added. "You could even take a world tour if you like."

"Wow! That's very generous of you," Kalina said.

"You ought to know by now that we are very generous people," JJ chuckled kissing Kalina's cheek. "We're very proud of you, as you all graduated with honors and that's not very easy."

"So you more than deserve this trip to wherever you want to go," Aaron added. "It will give you a chance to relax and destress. Finishing your education is not easy as there are multiple tests, not to mention your dissertation."

"So just tell us where you all want to go and we'll buy you your tickets," Spencer said.

"We could afford this on our own thanks to those generous trust funds," Silvie said.

"Just because you can afford it doesn't mean that you don't deserve for somebody else to pay for you," Dave said. "This is our present to you for graduating with 4.0 averages. All you need to do is decide where you want to go or even several places you want to go."

"We'll have to talk about it so we'll let you know in a couple of days," Mista offered.

"That's fine, as we'll be arranging to close up the house for now, though we will eventually sell it or perhaps give it to one of our children, even you if you wanted to move back into the house you grew up in."

"There is no rush to make a decision though, as it will probably be at least a decade or so before we decide to sell, so you have plenty of time to think about it," JJ said.

The triplets smiled at their parents knowing that they had been very lucky to land with their older brother and his mates and they were genuinely kind and generous people. They were only sorry that their father had not been like they're brother and his mates were as he had been a selfish man and hadn't cared about them at all. This was something they had realized after many talks with their older brother and the other adults in the house when they will young. Spencer helped them understand that their father was not a nice man as he was more the capable of abandoning his family. Even if he had died of a heart attack instead of abandoning them in this case, eventually he would have as he had already done it at least once. Spencer didn't believe that William Reid was capable of real emotion or at least not the kind that would make him stick around or truly care about anyone but himself.

"This will be a great adventure," Mista said excitedly.

While their father's uncaring attitude had made the triplets sad at first they had excellent replacements for their father and also their mother who had committed suicide over the bastard. They had a real family now, one who would always be there for them and that was all that mattered as they had a great future ahead of them.

"Yes, it will be," Spencer agreed smiling responding to Mista's comment. "I've certainly seen more of the world then I had once I hooked up with these three."

"And there's still plenty of the world left for all of us to see," Aaron said kissing Spencer's cheek.

"Yes, there is and we'll going to go see some of it once we close up the house and settle our affairs, so we can be gone for a long time," Dave said smiling feeling absolutely contented with his life, but then he had felt that way for quite some time, so it wasn't an unfamiliar feeling.


End file.
